Naruto: Next Generation
by NewArvo
Summary: An idea of what Naruto part 3 could be like. Set after the events of chapter 700 of the manga, this story revolves around the next generation and their families led by Bolt Uzumaki and Sarada Uchiha. After many years of peace, a new threat appears at their doorstep that puts the next generation of shinobi to the test whether they can fight alongside the previous generation.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

After another long day at ninja school, Bolt was once again gloomy as any day after school. The fact that he was sent to sit at the front of the class next to his teacher, Shino Aburame, played a big role on his dark mood. Even though he was laughed at, he still kept smug face to cover his embarrassment and that it was all "part of the plan".

'(sigh)… Why would even say such a troublesome thing?' asked Shikadai as he and Bolt with Inojin walked in the streets of Konoha on their way home.

'Come on Shikadai! All we've been learning is count how many clones we can make! When are we going to do the real ninja stuff?!' protested Bolt, backing up his case.

'I agree' said Inojin. 'Calling Aburame-sensei an idiot is not… fitting…' Inojin cuffed his chin and thought hard on his next choice of words. 'You should have called him a douchebag'

'Inojin… do you even know what you're saying?...' Shikadai asked rhetorically as he slapped his forehead to his friend for being so clueless when he says inappropriate stuff.

'huh?' Inojin responded with a confused look in his face.

'nevermind….-' Shikadai ended the topic but stopped himself halfway through his sentenced as he noticed that Bolt has disappeared from them. Shikadai could only imagine what that troublesome kid was up to now.

'Where's Bolt?' Inojin asked as he noticed himself as well.

'Meh, don't worry about it. Come, I know a good hang out place if you like watching clouds' said Shikadai inviting Inojin to the rooftop that he and his Shikamaru would often spend their father and son time together.

Inojin didn't understand what was so interesting about watching clouds as he watched with his friend who seemed to be dozing off. He pulled out an art book along with his paint brush and an ink pot.

'You really like drawing things huh?' Shikadai commented. He was now intrigued as he eyed the pictures in the art book.

'Oh! It's just something I picked up from my dad' Inojin said as he dipped his brush in his ink pot and started drawing the curl of the coulds outline. 'Just something I do on my spare time.'

'At least you got something to do on your spare time.' Shikadai said with jealousy in his voice. 'Dad taught me how to play shogi, but it's no good when you no one to pay with. Well….. there's mom but she's too easy to beat'

'Haha!' Inojin laughed at his friend's contemporary dilemma. 'Mom likes it when I draw her, especially if I draw her prettier than she actually looks.'

Shikadai was shocked at how casual Inojin said those words. He couldn't even imagine how his mother Temari would react if those words were heard from him. What more Inojin's mother Ino if she heard the same thing. Shikadai could only wonder how his friend could be so clueless but he shoved the thought away. Inojin's not dead yet, it was probably not as bad as he thought.

* * *

><p>'Big Brother!' Himawari stood up in delight as she saw her brother Bolt walk in. 'Look what I drew!'<p>

Bolt looked down on his sister's art smugly. It was a picture of all the members of their family sitting in a field of sunflowers all smiling and looking happy. Even though it was supposed to be an encouraging and happy picture, Bolt felt sadness creep over him as he studied the drawing of him tucked under his father's arm. He patted his sister's head for the great job then sulkily walked up the stairs into his room.

Bolt opened the window then sat down letting his feet dangle over. Moments later he heard a couple of knocks on his door then a slow creak as the door twisted open on its hinges. 'Bolt? Are you ok?' His mother Hinata asked but Bolt remained silent and continued to stare with contempt at the Hokage faces on the mountain.

Hinata knew straight away just by looking at her son's body language what his problem was. He walked over and sat next him.

'Why don't you come down and with us Bolt? I cooked your favourite! Ramen!' Hinata tried to cheer her son.

'I'm not hungry mom.' Bolt replied gloomily. 'It's just not fair! Inojin and Shikadai had something their fathers taught them but me? I got nothing! Dad is always busy with work…' Bolt complained as he recalled the events after hiding from Shikada and Inojin, he then later followed and was about to tip a bucket of water over their over their heads when suddenly both talked about their experiences with their father.

'Want to know what my ninja way is?' Hinata asked her son. Bolt looked up with huge eyes of curiousity to meet her mom's smiling and teasing. 'Never give up and I was inspired by your father for that. You could say he had the same dilemma as you, he was popular in the wrong way and everyone looked down on him! You're father never gave up on his dream to become hokage and have everyone respect him'

Bolt marvelled at the amazing story her mom told. He's always thought that, being the amazing ninja that his father is, had always been popular in the village but that wasn't the case. He smiled to himself at his newly found inspiration. He told himself that he wasn't going to try and get his father's attention by doing silly things but he would show him the amazing ninja that he is. He stood up and slammed his right fist into his palm. Hinata was startled by Bolt's sudden movement.

'I will never give up! That is my ninja way!' Bolt announced and pointed his right fist towards his father's face on the mountain side. Hinata stood up and planted a kiss on top of his head before leaving the room. 'But first I need some cool secret forbidden techniques to be strong! And I know just the place to find those!' Bolt giggled to himself.

'How bad was it?' Naruto asked Sai who just entered his office for the mission briefing. Shikamaru who was standing by Naruto's side turned an alarmed gaze.

'Eveyone is dead. Everyone but one girl, Tsunade-sama is tending to her now as we speak' Sai replied.

'What do you think caused this?' asked Shikamaru.

'We're still unsure what or who did this, but Shizune-san checked the dead bodies on the field, none of them had any scratches or any openings on the surface. There were no traces of poison in their blood stream as well. It would seem that they got their chakra got sucked out of them'.

There was a momentarily silence between the three of them as Naruto assessed the situation. 'What about the girl?'

'Her body was on the brink of breaking down but Shizune-san got to her in time to support her' Sai replied. 'My apologies if we weren't able to gather much information. The decay rate in each body was identical therefore everyone died at the same time. It was dangerous for us to stay around when there's an unknown threat still lingering'.

Naruto stood up impatiently and walked over to the balcony over-looking Konoha. He didn't like it that people are dying and all they can do is cowering back. Shikamaru let Naruto evaporate some steam and didn't follow him. 'Looks like we would need to send another team for further investigation' Shikamaru said to Sai who nodded agreement. 'For now, go home to your wife. She's probably pulling out her hair in fury. You're late for dinner' Shikamaru was glad that he wasn't the only one who would get a good one form their wives when they get home.

Sai smiled and scratched the back of his head. 'Haha! I guess so…' Sai walked over to the double door of the hokage's office when an urgent looking Udon and Moegi rushed in to the room cutting Sai. Both stopped for a brief moment puffing to get enough air for their next words.

'Seventh! The Scroll of Fobidden Seal has been stolen! It's-' They were both cut off by Naruto's impatient and cold voice.

'Let me guess? Bolt again?'

* * *

><p>Sarada followed Bolt but lost track of him in the dark hallways of the hokage building. She was now standing in the middle of a cross intersection wondering which way did he go. There was a faint sound from the end of one the corridors and she decided to follow that one. There was a double door with one door slightly open letting light into the hallway. Now that she got closer, there were voices, urgent voices and the sounds of hurried footsteps.<p>

It would seem that she really had lost track of Bolt but she figured she might have found something more interesting. She peered in the gap and saw Tsunade's back. She was facing a table and had her head and arms over it with green glow emitting from her hands. Sarada tried to look at the contents of the desk but found out that it was a girl. She slipped in quietly, the urgence of the moment covering the noises the hinge of the door made.

She side stepped her way behind one of the desk's containing jars of bizarre things that you could never thought of actually being good for you.

'She's starting to breathe normally' Tsunade announced. She stepped back and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. 'Good job Shizune! Without you she'd probably be dead by now' Tsunade praised her former student.

'Just doing my job Tsunade-sama'

Both medics left the room to arrange a room for this girl in the hospital. Sarada took the chance to get a closer look of the girl. She was about her age but she looked skinny and fragile, she was about the same height as her but her black hair is twice as long. The girl started moaning and she opened her eyes. Sarada froze at the gaze of those sky blue eyes of the girl's, just like Bolt' she thought.

'Hey…..' Sarada said awkwardly. 'What's your name?'

The girl stared at her for a few moments then her often her mouth to speak but only soft and quiet sounds came out. Sarada was a little confused from the sounds coming out of the girl but the girl got the hang of it and made sounds that sounded like words eventually.

'I…..I-I don't know…..'

'Oh….. that's not good….' Sarada inspected her new friend and she underestimated how skinny this girl was. Up close she looked skin and bones. She was about to invite her the girl to come home with her and get some food into her system when hard footsteps slammed on the floor above them then echoed voices said:

'Seventh! The Scroll of Fobidden Seal has been stolen! It's-' They were both cut off by Naruto's impatient and cold voice.

'Bolt!' Sarada said with a smile.

**Author's Note: I didn't know if I felt sad or happy about Naruto's ending. All I knew was I wanted more!... So I wrote this…..**

**Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Bolt giggled to himself as he took a peek inside the forbidden scroll. He looked back towards the closed double door just to make sure that no one followed him before yanking the scroll open. To his disappointment, all the techniques were too complicated for his comprehension, all but one. Bolt could just imagine the level of pranks he can accomplish with this jutsu and never get caught.

Time was running out for Bolt as he heard evenly paced footsteps approaching the double door into the room that felt calm and intimidating at the same time. He quickly memorised the appropriate hand seals and chanted words. 'Ok… so I form a Tiger Seal and….. say Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' Bolt planted those words into his memory before winding up the scroll and hid in the shadows of the bookshelf just in time to escape his dad's vision when Naruto pushed the double doors open with both hands.

Naruto took a quick scan of the room looking for anything out of the normal. To his surprise the room looked in place and tidy but that didn't mean that Bolt wasn't in the room. He could just imagine his son smiling like an idiot in a corner somewhere. He took a couple of steps into the room before announcing:

'Bolt! Don't make me come find you! There will be consequences!'

In the corner of Naruto's eye, he caught shadow figure dashing past giggling naughtily. With quick reaction, Naruto reached out and grab the kid on the head. 'Where do you think you're going?' After a brief moment the kid which looked like Bolt smiled before puffing into thin air. 'A clone?'

'Hah! Got you dad!' a voice came from behind Naruto . This time a kunai was slicing through the air towards the back of his head. Again, Naruto's level was way above these average pranks. He simply just sidestepped then dashed behind Bolt in a blink of an eye. Naruto grabbed his son by the collar of his jacket and raised him to eye level.

'Did you really think I'll fall for you pranks?'

'Yup!' Bolt said arrogantly before puffing into thin air in Naruto's hand.

'Another Clone?' Naruto was amazed by how well his son was using a jutsu he just picked up. Then there was another puff and this time it was the kunai that turned into the real Bolt in mid air. Bolt turned in mid air and gave his father a "How was that?" massive grin then saluted him before landing softly then ran down the hallway.

Naruto couldn't help but feel proud and smile in admiration on how his son has grown. 'Has he always been this good?' Naruto asked himself. 'Perhaps I've just been too busy to notice…'He decided to let this one occasion slide until he realized that Bolt was still carrying the scroll of forbidden techniques with him.

Naruto stepped and was shocked by the scenario that he walked into, shocked in a good way. There was Sasuke standing before him holding a wriggling Bolt by the back of his jacket.

'Let go of me!' Bolt Yelped.

'I believe this is your brat?' Sasuke said with a smirk as he handed Bolt to his father.

'Sounds about right!' Naruto returned the smirk as he held Bolt like how Sasuke carried him with one hand and took him took the forbidden scroll with the other.

'So what brings you here?' Naruto asked his old friend. Sasuke didn't say a word but at Bolt sending Naruto the message that this is confidential matters.

'(sigh) ….. Always acting cool…' Naruto got the message and just played along and started walking. 'I'll just bring this kid back to his mother'

'You won't be the only one delivering kids.' Sasuke replied.

Naruto smiled at Sasuke's last words as he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Bolt held a bitter and scornful expression on his face. Even though Naruto can't see it, he knew what was on his son's mind.

'You did good by the way' Naruto complemented his son. That completely changed the expression on his face to a prideful smirk.

Sarada peaked around the corner and immediately retreated as he caught a glimpse of her father holding Bolt with one hand. 'Ok! Time to to go!' She said to herself and swiftly but quietly ran down the hallway. Just as she stopped to take a quick look back, out of the corner of her eye as she turned, she saw her father. She froze in her twisted form and didn't want to make eye contact.

'I taught you better than that' Sasuke scolded. Sarada found that there was no point in hiding, she was already busted, so she turned to face Sasuke.

'Sorry….. I was just curious what Bolt was up to this time….'

Sasuke knelt down until he was eye level with her daughter and placed his right hand (only hand!) on her shoulder. 'What I meant was, I'm sure I taught you better not to get caught so easily!'

Sarada looked up in astonishment at her father's words. She met his gaze and there was no sign any anger or anything negative. He had a pure smile on his face.

'Haven't seen you in a while Sarada'.

'Well…. You're always kinda….. not at home…' Sarada returned the smirk.

* * *

><p>'What is it Sasuke?' Naruto asked while overlooking the village on his hokage balcony. It was well into the night now and almost all the lights were out except for the few odd ones here and there. Sasuke was metres away from him leaning on the balcony railings facing the other way.<p>

'Have you heard of what happened to the village on border of Amegakure and Konohagakure?' asked Sasuke. He turned to look at the expression on Naruto's face. His facial expression remained straight but his eyes changed. It was like looking into a cornered feisty animal's eyes.

'I've sent a team earlier but they weren't able to learn much' replied Naruto keeping his gaze on the village. 'They howerer, manage to bring back a survivor'

Sasuke was startled by the new information Naruto had just told him. Sasuke was nearby the village when he felt chakra with an eerie feeling to it. He made his way towards the source quickly and carefully. This was an unusual chakra and you can't be too careful. It wasn't long until the feeling faded and the area around Sasuke felt barren.

Once he arrived at the village everything was done already. Everyone was dead, even the surrounding fauna dried up and died along with its inhabitants. There were dead bodies scattered on the streets. Some with a basket full of groceries near where they lay; some were still holding hands with their children perhaps to treat them on a special day like this. Sasuke continued to look around inside homes, bars and he found one thing in common. Everyone was living out their daily routine when this 'unexpected' happened.

Using the sharigan, Sasuke could see that there was no more trace of chakra and any form of life left in the bodies; they were now just empty, rotting containers.

After the flood of memories, Sasuke came back to reality. 'You what this means right? Naruto?' Sasuke now faced his friend and demanded eye contact.

'We'll give her the chance to explain herself first' Naruto said in defence.

'If we give her the chance, we won't even have time to blink! Everyone is dead except for her! There is only one explanation to this!'

'Or she could just be a survivor and knows the truth behind all of this. She could also be our saviour!' Naruto challenged his friend.

There was a brief silence between the two.

'Where is the girl?' Sasuke demanded an answer.

'Sasuke… just give her the benefit of the doubt' Naruto pleaded.

'Fine!... But let me see her!' Sasuke demanded.

'What for?'

'To confirm something…'

Naruto lead his friend to the hospital room where the girl was held. She was lying in bed breathing evenly now with machines hooked up to her fragile body to support her. They came around the curtains and as soon as Sasuke laid eyes on the girl, he immediately dropped his hand on his sword. Naruto expected such a reaction and grabbed his friend's hand before Sasuke could draw his sword.

'I saw her Naruto. She was in the village. She was dead!'

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

A couple of weeks have passed and it was early morning to a beautiful day with the forecast of cloudy the whole day. The people are starting to fill up the streets that eventually builds up to a hectic scenario. Especially this time of the year, spring, where flowers are starting to blossom and fill the bleak atmosphere with colour and life which meant in turn a big season for the Yamanaka flower shop.

Sai and his son Inojin were entrusted by a very important duty by the 'boss' of the household, Ino. They were to set up a new banner to put up at the front of the house. The father and son duo came up with something simple but elegant to put up. The was pretty banner already hanged up with Sai adding a few finishing touches to the last of the sunflower rawings that seemed to be popular lately (in coutesy of HImawari being a huge fan of the species) when Inojin accidentally knocked over a paint bucket that spilled all over the flowers at the front.

Inojin looked up to his father who was on top of a step ladder with an 'oops' expression.

"Oops!" Inojin expressed his thoughts. At the same time both heard footsteps of Ino coming down the stairs and humming to her good mood this morning.

"Uh… isn't it about time for school Inojin?" Sai told hs son as he came down the ladder. He approached the entrance to the shop and could see Ino a few steps away from him. Sai hand gestured his son to get going before his mom finds out.

"Good morning Ino!" Sai tried to by as much time as he can for his son. "Has anyone told you how beautiful you look today?"

Ino blushed at the sudden flattery and tilted her face to hide it while stroking a few strands of hair nervously. "Oh!Really?... I actually forgot to brush my hair-". She was interrupted by Sai, who slipped a stalk of Bush Clover on her ear. Sai smiled at her admiring how truly beautiful she looked.

"You look just fine Ino!" Sai continued occupying Ino with the flattery. At the same time he was panicking as he ran out of words to say. He just hoped that Inojin had ran far enough to get out of sight.

"Well aren't you the sweetest thing?!" Ino stepped forward and grabbed her husband's hand. She walked past him and pulled him towards the door. "Come on, let's greet our customers together. There should be a number of people up already!" Ino said as she excitedly pulled Sai.

"He we go…" Sai thought then there it was an a agonising shockwave of pain travelled up his arm. Ino's soft and gentle grip turned into an iron high pressure grip. She slowly turned her head back to her husband but this time with glaring eyes intently to murder instead of the sweet and loving look she had just seconds ago.

"Where is Inojin?...!"

* * *

><p>"Hey Shikadai!" Temari barged into her son's room. "When are you planning to get up?!"<p>

Shikadai moaned and shuffled slightly under his blanket shifting to a more comfortable position then relaxed and continued his quest to get more sleep. Temari marched towards her son's bed and ripped the blanket over his cuddled form. Shikadai curled and winced at the sudden gust of wind.

"Shikadai! You're late for school!" Temari said once again with harsher tone this time.

"Five more minutes?" Shikadai pleaded.

"Hey! What's all the racket about?" Shikamaru yawned as he arrived then leaned on the frame. "Are you planning to wake up the neighbours too?"

"The neighbours are already up…." Temari turned to her husband and returned the sarcasm tone. "And Shikadai is late for school! So why don't you help me get his lazy ass off the bed?!"

"Right…. Shikadai, listen to your mother" Shikamaru said before leaving the scene.

"Hey Shikamaru! Where do you think you're going?!" Temari now bursted into anger.

"Going back to back to bed" Shikamaru called back.

"Why doesn't dad have to get up early? He's got responsibilities too!" Shikadai defended his case.

"Don't worry, I'm saving my best for last unless you want to get it now!" Temari threatened without any intention of hurting her kid of course.

"All right! All right!" Shikadai said in defeat. '(sigh) So...I don't feel like going to school... today is the day... How troublesome…'

* * *

><p>"997….998….99…..1000!" Lee junior puffed each number in agony as counted each push up with a boulder as big as his body on his back. As soon as junior announced the number '1000', his father Rock Lee came in and pulverised the boulder with one punch.<p>

"Way to go junior!" Lee patted his exhausted son on the back. "Tomorrow we shall beat your new record! Just like what I always say, always strive to be better than you were yesterday!"

"Indeed father!" Lee junior stood up as if his body wasn't it any kind of stress at all and saluted his father.

"Hey Lee! Junior! Don't push yourself too much! You got school in a minute!" Tenten reminded her boys as she sat on the porch overlooking their backyard. She just finished packing some lunch for junior and gestured him to come towards his mother to collect it.

"Don't overdo things alright junior?" Tenten remimded her son. Junior has the tendency to take things to the extreme as she tended to a few scratches on her son's arm. "Do your best my son!" She said with an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry Tenten! He shall be fine! He's my son after all. Awesomeness runs in the blood!" Rock Lee said with the 'Nice Guy' pose. As usual his son's eyes sparkled in admiration whenever Lee did the pose.

"Awesome! So Cool!" exclaimed Junior.

'(sigh)'…. "Please don't copy him….." Tenten said.

* * *

><p>The sound of ceramic on ceramic echoed in the dining as ChoCho munched though a set of meal after another.<p>

"Wow! slow down ChoCho! We don't wat to get a stomach ache for school!" said her mother Karui who kind of enjoyed watching her daughter continued to fill up her 'healthy' body. "No wonder Inojin calls you fatty"

ChoCho's chopsticks stoppe and the atmosphere across the dining table changed. She eyed her mom daring her to say the word again but she thought 'nah'. "Meh! I don't care He can do whatever crap he wants and I'll do my crap.' Healthy' girls are so-ooooooo underrated this days…. Its sad really….."

The sounds of chopsticks on ceramic returned as ChoCho continued eating and Karui breathe a sigh of relief. She thought her daughter would react like her father whenever the 'taboo' word floated into their ears.

"Well just make sure you leave enough room in there for lunch"

"Oh that reminds me! Don't worry about lunch mom, Anko-sensei will be treating today!"

Karui was taken aback but that. Not because it came out of nowhere (the two have been spending a lot of time together lately. In fact might have been ChoCho's influence why Anko went from 'Damn Anko!' to 'Oh Damn! Anko….').

"…..you should have said that much sooner…." Karui was holding in her hands a neatly packed lunch.

"Oh that's ok! I can eat that while walking to the Dango shop with Anko-sensei!" ChoCho put down her chopsticks neatly on the table and respectfully thanked for the food. She stood up and took the lunch box from her frozen mom. "See ya mom! Have a nice day!"

"… Unbelievable….." Karui was just only getting used to Choji and now her daughter is quickly into one as well.

* * *

><p>Sarada neatly combed her hair. It was nothing fancy just splitting her hair to the side and making sure that she got rid of all the mess from when she dried her hair with a towel. It was the way she liked it, shorter hair means less grooming in the morning equals makes life easier.<p>

Satisfied that it she looked alright she slipped on her glasses and smiled before leaving her room to go down the stairs. Just before taking the first step down, she decided to take a sneak peek in t her parent's room just to see if her dad was still there. Usually when he leaves early this morning, he has a tendency to not return for months.

She neither felt neither rejoiced nor disappointed at what she saw. 'Of course dad is not here, I'm used to that'

Downstairs her mom, Sakura was in the backyard tending to their garden. Sarada went to her and greeted her before taking her leave.

"I'll be leaving now mom"

Sakura looked up and smiled at her daughter. "All right, do your best!"

"Nah! That'll be too unfair! Oh one more thing mom, where did dad go this time? Did he go wandering who knows where again?"

"He's just with uncle Naruto talking… business. Why?" Sakura searched for an appropriate substitute word to hide something important but not necessarily lying. She has been kept aware by her two former team mates of the situation going on inside and outside the villages and the necessary steps they are taking to counter these 'problems'.

"Nothing. Just wondering"

"You may not know this but when he gets home, usually late and you're fast asleep, he would make it a point that he goes to you and kiss you on the forehead before he does anything." Sakura stared into the distance in admiration. "He loves you"

Sarada placed a hand on her forehead as if to make sure it was real. She had a few vague memories of the sensation but she always thought of them as dreams as they were very vague but now, it put a smile on her face that those were real.

"Anyway enough story telling! You should probably go to school!"

"Indeed!"

Just as Sarada was exiting through the front door, she walked past a picture of her father and her uncle when they were young. He remained a mystery to her, whenever she would try to bring up the subject with her father, Sasuke would quickly change the subject. Though it wasn't a burning curiosity, she just wondered why her father always impulsive whenever the subject was brought up but everyone knew that he was a hero of the village.

"Watch me uncle, today is the day!"

* * *

><p>"Mom….. I'm already ten years old….. I can put on my shirt myself…. I'm not a kid anymore….." Bolt protested in embarrassment and Hinata straightened out the crooked shirt.<p>

"I might have believed you if you know how to put on your shirt properly" HInata picked up Bolt jacket and gently slipped it on over his shoulders. "There we go, looking handsome just like your dad!"

"Here you go big brother!" Himawari was waiting for the two to before then she handed her big brother his lunch for the day, which was made by Hinata of course. Bolt received it with a grateful smile and patted her on the head.

"Himawari worked really hard on preparing your lunch! Make sure you eat up!" said Hinata.

"Do your best big brother"

Bolt smiled smugly, he enjoyed showing off in front of her sister. She always seemed to be amazed at everything he does, whether good or bad. "Watch big brother become an amazing ninja, one day you'll start too but you'll have to become second cause big bro is the first!"

"SO COOL!"

It was a big day today for Bolt's generation. Today is the day where they perform a final test to see if they are worthy to wear a shinobi head band. Bolt couldn't stop smiling as he walked through the streets. He was brainstorming last night as to how he would wear his band that would look 'cool'.

The hokage faces were visible straight ahead, all seven faces but Bolt only had sights on one of them. He pointed his right fist towards his father's and said :

"Watch me father! Today is the day!"

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Aburame Shino hushed his overly excited class. After all today was a big day for them, they will receive their final test if they are eligible to wear the Konoha forehead protectors. These protectetors were neatly arranged on the table in front of him. Shino waited the racket settled down to murmurs then to complete silence. Satisfied now that he's got his class's full attention, he started to speak.

"Let me explain how today will go for you all. First you will need to perform a certain basic justsu to qualify for one of these" Shino announced with a nice pronounced voice as he pointed at the forehead protectors in front of him. "Then you will all be assigned in groups of three under a jonin teacher. You do not get to choose your groups of three, that is up to me to decide" There a few disappointend 'aww's' in the crowd after hearing that last bit.

"All right let's begin-" Shino stocked in his speech and looked over to his left towards the door where the sound of a couple of knocks came from. There was Konohamaru waving for Shino to come towards him.

"Excuse me class" Shino excused himself and slipped into the hallway. To his surprise there was a girl standing next to Konohamaru. She was about the age of the class back in the classroom but he had never seen her before. She had a deep blue eyes that looked so innocent and yet so full of experience. Her long black was tied to a pony tail with a blue ribbon and with loose strands of hair on both side of her face. She was wearing a plain white v-neck t-shirt with black sleeves with a short blue skirt that ran down halfway down her thighs then black leggings that covered her whole legs.

Even she looked innocent enough, Shino still felt uneasy, especially when he looked her straight in the eye. There was something more than meets the eye with this girl. Shino moved closer to Konohamaru then whispered close to him.

"Under Hokage's orders?" Shino asked.

"Under Hokage's orders" Konohamaru confirmed. He remembered when Naruto approached him while he was looking at the memorial of the names of the heroes that died in battle and one of those names was his grandfather.

* * *

><p>"Still not over it?" Naruto said from a few paces behind Konohamaru.<p>

"hmmph! Na…. just wondering…. I always said that I want to be hokage but I haven't really done anything for the village…. You, grandpa and all the previous hokage's have fought to protect the village…"

Naruto placed a hand on Konohamaru's shoulder and said. "Don't worry; You'll get your chance. Besides for the past two years you've been away, I'm sure you weren't just messing around. I know you're a lot stronger than you look. You might even surpass me! HAHAHAHA!" Naruto tried to cheer up his sulking friend.

"I'll definitely surpass you! No question on that!"

"Anyway, I'm here to ask a favour" Naruto's tone went from humorous to serious and demanding. Konohamaru's expression change as he sensed the urgency in Naruto's voice. "The girl, the last survivor of the small village, I want you to train her"

"… why me? And isn't she a suspect?"

"Ibiku didn't find anything and medical examinations concluded that she was a victim. She lost everything… I want to give her something to fight for… I home to fight for. She's one of us now."

"….All right but-"

"No but's and it's to give you something to do instead of bumming around all day and looking at graves!"

* * *

><p>"Very well" Shino pulled back and lowered himself. "My name is Aburame Shino, what's your name?"<p>

"Aomika" the girl said confidently with a straight posture and chin up.

"What about your family name?" Shino asked but the girl's expression saddened and she looked down. Shino stood and asked Konohamaru in a quiet voice.

"She doesn't have her memories? That makes her dangerous" Shino said in an alarming tone.

"I know…. But that also her not. Anyway I've already gone through this with Naruto but the man has made up his mind". There was a brief eye contact between the two of them before Shino turned and led Aomika into the classroom.

The class was into a racket with kids wrestling and crumbled papers thrown across the room. Shino hushed them again and introduced Aomika.

"This is Aomika, she will be part of your class from now on" Shino then pointed to a free seat next to Bolt at the front that Shino purposely placed him there for arrogant behaviour earlier. Aomika approached the row nervously and looked at the spare seat in front of her then to the boy apparently called Bolt.

"Don't worry…. I won't bite" Bolt said still bitter that he was placed at the front row and got separated from his friends. He didn't go down without a fight though, he resisted with all his strength but a swarm of bugs was just too much for a kid to handle and he was manhandled and placed on his current seat without much of a fight.

"It's Bolt isn't it?" Aomika tried to get a conversation going and perhaps get her first new friend.

"Nah! His name is idiot!" an arrogant voice called from behind her form the row directly behind theirs. Even though he was still about ten years old, he had sharp features and perhaps it was the beastly overlook that gave him an adolescent impression. He had a messy short brown hair and a ragged white v-neck shirt with the net shirt visible on the v-cut. "The name is Akio Inuzuka! Is your name really Aomika?"

"….yes…" Aomika replied uncertainly, she had a feeling that there was a punchline coming.

"I thought your name was beautiful" Akio said in the sexiest voice he could muster. Aomika was taken a back and blushed. That was the last thing she expected until Bolt jerked up and got into Akio's face.

"Think you're so cool don't you Akio!" Bolt said smirking at his rival.

"You're just jealous that she likes me more than you!"

"Why don't we ask her then? Right Mika-chan. Is it alright if I call you Mika?" asked Bolt while he kept his challenging gaze towards Akio. That was really unexpected for Aomika which out a brighter blush on her face, after all they only just met and he was already calling her like they have been friends for a long time.

Akio was irritated that Aomika seemed to like Bolt more. "Why don't we go outside and settle this like real men!"

"Why don't you two knock it off before I decide to fail the both of you!" Shino scolded the two of them in the powerful stern voice. The two boys sat down instantly and put out their best behaviour with an apologetic look on their faces.

Behind the entire racket between Bolt and Akio, Sarada was watching scornfully as she sensed that Bolt was attracted to the new girl. If her memory served her right, she was the girl Sarada saw that night when she Sarada was following Bolt. Then her curled lips turned into smile as Bolt got scolded at again.

"Don't worry Sarada-chan!" Junior said to Sarada who was sitting next to him. Originally it was Bolt sitting in between them but since Bolt got sent to the front, junior took the opportunity and claimed the seat next to his crush inconspicuously. "I'm Bolt won't fall for the same bugs again!"

"Oh don't Junior! I'm sure Bolt is not that stupid!" 'Or is he?' Sarada questioned her last statement. At the same time she took a second glance at junior who seemed to be sitting closer to her now than she last noticed. Junior noticing that she was looking at him gave her a thumbs and the 'nice guy' pose that he often see his father do, though he does not understand why his mom slaps her forehead everytime his father does this amazing move.

"(sigh) there goes that troublemaker again….. "Shikadai commented impatiently.

"Two of them actually" Inojin corrected his friend.

"Shut up you two!" ChoCho elbowed Inojin who was next to her.

"OW!"

"I don't be late for snack with afterschool with Anko-sensei just because you two got us in trouble!"

Inojin and Shikadai looked at each other and chorused "Three!" as in the count for troublemakers jst escalated to three with the addition of ChoCho to their list.

"All right! Enough! Let's get this started!"

* * *

><p>Naruto was sitting in his office trying to get through tons of paperwork so he could come home early and have dinner with his family. It would seem that won't happen as Shino walked into the room with papers in hand.<p>

"Here are the results of the Genin test, seventh"

Naruto had actually been waiting for these results all day. He was curious to see whether his son made it and it would seem that he did, just.

"Shizune, put my stamp on everything" Naruto said as he stood up with the test results in hand.

"But Seventh! Shouldn't you read them first?!"

"Nah! And by the way, where can I find your son Shiroku?" Naruto asked halfway out the door.

"Um….." Shizune thought hard. "He should be training with his father, Shikamaru and Satomi"

"Ah Satomi! Perfect! Just the other person I wanted to see.

* * *

><p>"Hey Satomi! Do you promise to go on a date with me if I beat you?" Shiroku asked while dodging a lethal slash from her chakra blade.<p>

"How can you beat me if you don't focus?!" Satomi got irritated because her opponent wasn't taking her seriously.

"Well… it wouldn't be fair if I go serious…. You see I like you and…. I don't to 'accidentally' hurt you" Shiroku said with ease as he blocked another chakra blade slash with his katana. The two fought to push the other off balance. They were inches away from each other's faces and death stared the other, well Satomi did anyway.

"Come on Shiroku! Get serious with me!"

"… just because you're two years older than me, doesn't mean you can boss me around but… why not! I'll go serious!" In that instant, Shrioku ran chidori down the length of his blade. Satomi pushed off as she felt the powerful electricity on her chakra blades.

Shikamaru and Kakashi watched their student and son, respectively have a pre-marital dispute while training.

"….So…. this is the next generation of shinobi…." Shikamaru said in disbelief.

"….I'm afraid so…." Kakashi agreed.

Satomi grinned. "Finally you got serious!" She always admired Shiroku's blade whenever he ran Chidori on it. It turns into a glaring white sword and mesmerizes the opponent whenever he waves it around, it was a perfect offensive distrantion.

"Only cause you asked me to" replied Shiroku. Satomi blushed and muttered 'Baka!' under her breathe.

Satomi let go of her blades and formed a series of seals then held the last one. Her blades floated in mid-air under the control of her chakra. Once she was ready, she sent her blades flying towards Shiroku.

He placed his lightning sword in front of his in a defensive stance. Satomi formed another set of seals then her chakra blades increased in number as shadow replications of it appeared. She spread them out evenly until they surrounded Shiroku in every angle.

"Surrender Shiroku! You lost!" announced Satomi victoriously. Just as she thought the fight was over, she felt a punch in her lower abdomen and the world around her spun. In an instant she opened her eyes and she was still in the training field. She was still holding her seal but Shiroku was nowhere to be seen until she felt the humming vibration of electricity close to her throat.

Shiroku was standing behind her holding his lightning sword under her throat with one hand and spinning her two chakra blades on his pointing finger with the other. "Looks like you owe me a date!" Shiroku said victoriously.

Satomi blushed redder than before and said."…I never agreed to such a thing…."

"Well… he wouldn't get the title 'White Blade of Konoha' for nothing" said Shikamaru. The two approached their students and commented on what they did right and wrong.

"Satomi, I thought I taught you to counter his Genjutsu? Just don't look at his sword right?" Shikamaru said not in a scolding tone but a mentoring one.

"I'm sorry sensei! I was…." Satomi remembered how amazing Shiroku looked she thought whenever he uses his lightning sword, but that was not an excuse she could say out loud. "…I was distracted!"

"Well…. Don't be next time"

Shiroku finished listening to Shikamaru then turned to his father. "Any comments father?"

"Why were you fooling around at the start?"

"But-"

"No but's, if that was a real fight, you can't afford to fool around"

"…I know that… but-"Shiroku was interrupted again.

"But! you have definitely surpassed me my son!"

"He certainly reminds me when you were in your prime Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out from under the shade of a tree. He stepped out and walked towards the four people standing together.

"Have the results for the Genin test arrived yet?" asked Shikamaru.

"YUP!" Naruto smiled with intent after he said that enthusiastically.

"…Don't tell me you intend to…." Kakashi had a feeling where this was going. Shiroku is only fifteen, even though he became a jonin at age ten and hands down, one of the best ninja in this village already it didn't feel right. He was a little immature to his liking. Satomi made sense though, a seventeen year old who has the wisdom of an experienced adult. Even though not as talented as Shiroku, she has that critical decision making in courtesy of her sensei, Shikamaru.

"Shiroku, Satomi, What do you say you become squad leaders of your own teams?!" Naruto said with even more enthusiasm.

Satomi bowed with the fist into palm gesture in front of her. "I would be honoured seventh!"

Shiroku was amazed at her formality. Knowing the hokage's personality, he wouldn't formality or not so Shiroku just didn't bother whenever he's speaking with Naruto. "Yeah, I'm up for it"Shiroku said casually.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

'So it was me, Bolt and the new girl…..' Sarada as she watched scornfully her other two teammates have a conversation looking happy, smiling and what irritated her most was the occasional giggle that Aomika makes whenever Bolt cracks a corny one. The three of them were sitting inside the classroom. Everyone was told to wait in here until their Jonin teacher comes and picks them up for introductions. Everyone who passed already left except for their team.

"Hey Sarada. Why don't you come join us?" Bolt called across the classroom. Originally they were sitting next to each other but once their 'conversation' (that was how Sarada quoted that in her head) started, Sarada felt so annoyed whenever she is with Bolt and she didn't know why so moved away across to the opposite side of the classroom.

"No thank you!" Sarada responded in contempt. Even though she was talking to Bolt she was looking at Aomika who looked at her back. She had an innocent look in her face and it looks like she just really want to be friends with her but for some reason it is getting in Sarada's nerves.

"Fine! Suite yourself!" Bolt felt offended and reacted in dislike. "I was just being nice!"

"…I don't think she likes me very much….." Aomika commented. It confused her because she remembered when she met Sarada. Even though there weren't many interactions between them but she felt different around her then. She was nice and curious but now, she felt hostile.

"Meh! Don't worry about it! She's always like that. But she's actually pretty nice once you get to know her" Bolt felt slightly offended from that. He knew Sarada since the moment they were born and they grew up together pretty much like brothers and sisters. Even though they knew each other for a long time now, he always wondered why she was always so quiet.

There were footsteps just in the hallway next door and stopped its tracks in front of the classroom door. 'Must be our teacher' Sarada thought. Bolt took the opportunity to grab the metre long stick that his aburame'sensei used to smack him on the back side whenever he does anything too naughty. He bent one of it so that it looks a foot then placed the blackboard eraser on the other end filled with the chalk dust from the day. He strategically placed his little trap in front of the door so that when his teacher steps in, he/she would step on to the foot and the whole thing would fling to his/her face.

Bolt quickly returned to his sit trying to contain his excitement. Mika couldn't believe what she was seeing, half of her wanted to destroy the trap immediately but other half was curious to see how well this 'genius' plan would work. Sarada on the other hand, couldn't wait to see what the teacher would do to Bolt after.

The door slid open and a foot stepped in. Mika, even though she wanted to see what would happen if it worked, couldn't believe that it actually worked on a jonin. The foot stepped down perfectly on the trap in the perfect angle giving it the maximum leverage and maximum impact. The board eraser went flying into Konohamaru's face before he could react.

Bolt bursted in to laughter as he stood up and announced "HAHA! Sucker!" in victory. Konohamaru leapt at the kid and got him into a head lock with eyes of a furious predator and got Bolt into a head lock.

"Who's the sucker now kid?!" Konohamaru said as he tightened his strangle around Bolt's neck. Bolt tapped twice on his arm and he released. After giving Bolt a moment to catch his breath he placed a hand on top of Bolt's head and stared into him intently.

"Try that again and you're going straight into your father's office!"

"Sensei!" Mika rejoiced after seeing one of the first faces she had known after waking up from her coma.

"It's good to see you too Aomika-chan! And… where's the third member?"

Both Mika and Bolt pointed behind them towards Sarada.

"Ah! Sarada-chan! Why don't you come down here and join us?!" Konohamaru encouraged her and also made a mental note that the relationship between these three needs to get better.

The three students sat in front of Konohamaru staring at him intently as they waited for their next orders.

"How about we skip the formalities and go straight to training?!" Konohamaru was delighted to see enlightenment on his students' faces.

"ALRIGHT! You're officially cool Konohamaru!"

"That's Konohamaru-sensei to you!" Konohamaru said as he smacked Bolt for his rudeness. "Anyway follow me"

The three followed him out of the classroom and into the hallway. As they were walking, the three students couldn't help but notice the soft ring of bells. When they looked closer to their sensei, they noticed a couple of small bells hanging by his waist.

"Sensei? What are the bells for?" Aomika asked.

"These… is your training!"

* * *

><p>Satomi took her new students to the barbeque place. From stories from her mother, apparently her father had the previous generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and always took them to this place in town. So she thought her father would be happy if she continued the tradition.<p>

"Eat as much as you want guys! It's on me!"

"I could tell we'll be good friends sensei! Itadakimasu!" ChoCho thanked her sensei and picked the stips of meat that looked bigger than the rest.

"Hey ChoCho! We also need to eat as well!" Shikadai complained that he got a pretty small piece compared to ChoCho's.

"No wonder you're a fat ass, fat ass!" Inojin also complained not liking the idea of having less food.

"OH! You wanna go blondie!" ChoCho stood up and slammed her hand on the table. "I'll take you on anytime!"

"Bring it!" Inojin accepted the challenge.

"I'm with Inojin on this one" Shikadai said.

"Two guys teaming against?! Really? And you call yourself guys?!" ChoCho said.

"Wait…. You're a girl?" Inojin said this timenot so clueless but with intent to attack ChoCho where it hurts.

"That's it! I'm gonna crush your head to a pulp!"

Satomi reached out and separated her students.

"No one is crushing anyone's head today!"

'….What is wrong with these three? ' Satomi thought. "All right it seems that we need to work on your teamwork and I know just the thing to do!"

Satomi noticed that she had her students' attention now and decided to continue. She reach into her pockets and pulled out a couple of small bells.

"After you guys eat, we'll go training!"

* * *

><p>'Akio Inuzuki, Rock Lee Junior and Emi Aburame… basically I get a dog, a who dresses up like a clown and a bug….. Why did I get the weirdos….' Shiroku made a bored mental note as he just listened to his students introduce them.<p>

"What are we gonna do now sensei?" asked Akio. "Me and Daisuke are pumped for some action" Akio's dog, a dog that looks like a puppy wolf with black fur, bark in concurrence.

Shiroku reached over behind his waist to his pouch and scrambled the items inside in search for the bells. It took longer than usual and his students who seemed to admire him at first now looked at him as if he was a regular town idiot. '… I'm pretty sure I put it here this morning….' In fact the items inside didn't feel like his usual tools. He pulled one out for example and was not too surprised when he saw a medical scroll. '… mom (Shizune) must have picked up my pouch by accident….'

"….You don't have a plan do you…." Akio asked in disbelief.

"Nope! I have a plan! Hit me!" Shiroku tried to act cool, his students caught in surprise by the sudden order. "If you guys can hit me you win! And one more thing. I'll only use one finger!'

'Damn this guy!' Akio thought. 'Underestimating me!' "Let's go Daisuke!" his dog barked in agreement and they charged in unison. Akio formed a series of seals then there was a puff cloud then Akio emerged.

'Here they come'

Shiruko hopped backwards and pushed down with his right pointing finger on the back of Akio's head. The boy slammed on the ground then there was a puff revealing that it was Daisuke.

"HAHA! I got you now sensei!" the real Akio announced who flanked his teacher. His right fist was inches away from his sensei's face when he felt a dot of pain in between his eyebrows.

"No you don't" Shiroku slammed his finger in between Akio's eyebrows and pushed him off sending him flying across the training grounds.

It was Junior who attacked next with incredible speed and well-disciplined footwork and form. 'His skills are way past his age' Shiroku acknowledge his student's skills with Taijutsu. Shiroku got a bit too casual and almost got cleaned up by a sweeping right hook. He dodged it just in time and was thankful that that didn't hit him as he saw his student's fist broke the sound barrier inches from his face.

Shiroku backed off. '…These kids are better than I thought!' Just as he thought of the complement. A mass of shadow came over him and when he looked up, there was a tsunami of bugs ready to swallow him. He was surprised that a little girl can use something like this!

"You're not running away sensei!" Emi said metres behind junior.

'….These kids are crazy!'

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

The wind was strong in the stand-off between students and teacher. Konohamaru just finished explaining the rules to this little exercise and had placed the bells back onto his belt.

"If you want to get one, you have to work together and….. you must be prepared to kill me"

When the students heard the word 'kill' their expressions turned to frightened. They looked at each other unsure what their sensei meant by that.

"Shall we begin!" Their thoughts reverted back in to reality and they just saw a glimpse of their sensei before he puffed into thin air.

"Where'd he go?" Bolt asked the other two who were scanning the training grounds like him.

"We should spread out" Mika suggested. "It'll be quicker to search the area that way"

"Sensei did just say to work together! Why would we split up and become easy target!" Bolt pointed out the flaw in the plan.

"You guys do what you want!" Sarada said with no interest at all as started running towards the trees nearby.

"Sarada!" Bolt called out but he knew more than anyone that if she made up her mind, there's no changing it.

"What do we do now?" asked Mika.

"She can get herself caught! There are only two bells anyways! Two for the two of us!"

'(sigh)…... Kids will always be kids…..' Konohamaru thought as he sat on a tree branch listening to the bickering of his students under the cover of leaves. His focus became alert as he heard quick footsteps nearby, closing in. Then Sarada emerged with a smirk on her face and a kunai ready in one hand.

"I found you sensei!"

She threw the kunai without hesitation, with the intent to kill. Konohamaru dodged it easily but praised his student for finding the clue he felt behind.

"I see, you noticed"

"It was pretty easy sensei. I always go to these grounds for training. I noticed straight away what was different"

Sarada noticed a screen of leaves that wasn't to be there. It was the same screen that Konohamaru was hiding behind.

"Well done Sarada! One of the basic rules of fighting, always be aware of your surroundings. But one mistake you made, you came alone!"

"Don't worry sensei! I didn't come alone!"

Just as Sarada said that, the leaves screen was blown away by a strong gust of wind from a technique used by Aomika by blowing. Bolt came into view with at least a dozen shadow clones ready to drown his sensei with all those bodies.

Konohamaru did the same and summoned three clones. One to grab each of his students and for Bolt's case grabbed the real one. The Bolt clones puffed as soon as the real Bolt was pinned down. Mika was placed next to him then puffed into nothing as soon as she made contact with the tree. Sarada also got away with a clone replacement.

'Clones? Not bad!' Konohamaru thought.

Then another kunai from Sarada sliced through the air towards Konohamaru and like before he dodged it with ease. The kunai continued on its path and hit his clone that was pinning down Bolt. Before Konohamaru realised what had just happened, it was too late.

Aomika chanted 'Wind Slice technique!' With her middle finger and pointing finger, she sliced vertically down and a thin razor of wind blew out and sliced the bells of her sensei's waist. Bolt then dashed through the aired and collected the free falling bells.

When Konohamaru landed on a tree branch, the fight was already over. His students were standing together in front of him with both bells.

"I thought you guys were arguing" Konohamaru said.

"That's what you heard sensei!" Bolt said in pride." Since you were hiding behind that screen, you couldn't the hand gestures we did to communicate. I guess it's like what they say! If we can't see, then you can't see us!"

* * *

><p>'(pant), (pant), (pant)… this is tough…' Satomi thought more exhausted than she expected. Her students kept her on her toes for the past half an hour. Inojin was hovering above on a drawn bird that he summoned from his scroll bombarding down at her. At ground level there ChoCho proved to be very quick despite her size. Shikadai was just sitting there with his hands clasped together working the shadows behind his teammates.<p>

Satomi caught on the corner of her a glimpse of a creeping shadow arm to her left. To her right, ChoCho was rolling towards her at an amazing and in front of her; Inojin continued his bombardements which left her only one option, backwards.

She knew what behind her, another shadow trying to sneak to pick one of the bells off her belt. Satomi turned and threw one of her chakra blades on the ground, formed a few seals then pinned the shadow and stopped in from moving. Then to her right, ChoCho bursted up from the ground metres away from her.

ChoCho quickly formed a series of seals then her arms increased in size and flexibility. They extended beyond her usual reach and surrounded Satomi for a bear hug.

Satomi quickly ducked feeling the breeze above her as she narrowly dodged the bear hug then tumbled backwards. As she was about to land her feet, she saw underneath her a black pool of shadow. Her feet were inches above the ground and she didn't have time to change direction. She quickly threw her remaining chakra blade on the pool and formed seals one short before landing.

It seemed that she landed safely and she was still able to form the last seal but she felt a tingling sensation on the back of her head. Then it's as if the ground beneath her feet suddenly disappeared and she fell, her mind fell into oblivion and into a deep sleep.

"Did it work?" Shikadai asked the dead still body of Satomi with her head limply bowing down. He now released his shadows and stood up from his crouch position and walked towards his sensei.

Satomi looked up from her bowed position and looked straight into Shikadai's eyes. Then her lips formed a naughty smile then she gave him a dumbs up.

"It worked!" Inojin said in Satomi's body. The moment where Satomi stood still for one second when she performed the last seal gave Inojin enough time to aim, fire, then shoot his clan's mind transfer technique.

"Well, don't mind if I take this then!" Shikadai said as he pulled the bells off.

Inojin released the technique then Satomi came back to consciousness in her body.

"Wha-" She was momentarily confused but everything made sense once she saw her three students standing in front of her with huge smiles on their faces.

'They got me!' She thought.

* * *

><p>It was now evening and the sun was creeping its last bits of sunshine over the Hokage Mountain before disappearing from view. Even the sun was gone; a few orange strips were left on the sky giving the village the last few minutes of light before the dark of the night.<p>

"I see. Looks like we got some pretty promising talents in this generation" Konohamaru commented after listening to cousin Satomi's story. The two were walking on a footpath in the side of a hill on the opposite side of the village from the mountain so that they could clearly see the sun set behind the faces of the Hokages.

"Indeed! Have you heard from Shiroku Konohamaru-nii-san?" asked Satomi.

"No I haven't… You like him don't you!"

"WHAT?! NO!... knowing him he's probably goofing off somewhere! I hate people like that!"

"Alright…. Just asking…." Konohamaru smiled at the way she denied the obvious. The way she reacted and blushed at his question says it all. "Speaking of which!" Konohamaru pointed ahead of them to Shiroku who was walking towards them. Unlike the other two, he looks beaten up, his clothes were in numerous places and the expression on his face looked heavily fatigued.

"…..What happened to you….." Satomi asked with a sharp glare on her eyes.

"…..long story… how was things at your end Konohamaru-nii-chan?"

"Well….. it would seem we got assess handed to us! Though not as badly as you!" Konohamaru laughed at he made towards his friend. As usual Shiroku just made a bored face while Satomi covered the smile on her face.

"Anyway, I'll catch you guys tomorrow!" Satomi said and started walking down the street.

"I'll walk you home" Shiroku followed her. "Considering you just got your ass kicked by a brats you need some protection"

"Speak for yourself! You look worse than me!"

"For your information, I had to use only one finger!"

"And who made that stupid, arrogant I wonder?!"

"I had this student who can control an army of bugs you see! Then there was this kid with a dog-"

There was silence between the two before they chorused in laughter together. Konohamaru watch his cousin and the genius of the village walk together as their voiced faded away in to the distance then looked back towards the Hokage Mountain.

"The will of the fire is strong and lives on Grandpa!"

* * *

><p>"Naruto, here are the list of names from the patrol that was supposed to be watching over that area when 'it' happened" Said Sai who handed Naruto the list. "I already asked each member and they all told a consistent story. Apparently a patrol from Amagakure came to them to change over. It was just an act of kindness they said."<p>

"So it would seem" Sasuke commented. "I was around the vicinity when the event happened and I didn't ran in to any patrols"

"I checked the records; our guys were dismissed a whole week early and that week is missing. I'll go to Amagakure and ask for a copy" said Shikamaru.

All three looked at Naruto for his orders but the hokage remained silent and very still. "I don't want anyone throwing accusations to anyone. We have made a peace treaty with everyone after all."

"Don't be a fool Naruto!" Sasuke lost interest in the conversation and walked over to the balcony.

"Where are you going Sasuke?!" Naruto stood up his voice getting impatient.

"Home to my wife and child, I have to protect them since you won't do anything!" after those words Sasuke disappeared from their view.

"Arrogant as usual… but he's right though" Shikamaru said.

"Sai! Get as much information with your ANBU as you can! Shikamaru, go there and ask but if they become to defensive, fall back, don't start a fire!" Naruto ordered. "If we're really running dry then we have no choice but to ask him directly and personally!"

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

It was a clear night sky; normally the village would be in pitch black but not that night. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon was full and bright. Aomika found the sight enticing and sat on the rooftop of her apartment mesmerised by nature's beauty.

"Also can't sleep huh?" said a female voice behind Aomika. Aomika was startled and looked up to see what it was.

"Oh Sarada! You like watching the moon as well?"

"I always have. This is good spot to watch a full moon. It's pretty close to my house so it's convenient" Sarada said as a matter of fact. "It would seem it will be different from now on"

"….I'm sorry ….. I didn't know…." Aomika felt guilty and apologised straight away.

"I didn't mean it that way! If anything it's a good opportunity to get to know each other!" Sarada sat a metre beside her friend. "I heard you've been having sessions with Ino-sensei to help you regain your memories. How's that going for you?"

Aomika slowly shook her head. "No good, but Ino-sensei said it is only natural. When it comes to these things, we can't rush it or the mind might not be able to handle all the stress."

"I see….. Well, we should probably tuck in early tonight. The chunin exam starts tomorrow!"

"Yeah. Good talk!" said Aomika.

"Good talk!" replied Sarada.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru was up earlier than usual that morning. Usually Temari would be dragging him out of bed but that morning, her husband was almost done getting ready by the time she got up. He was just finishing packing his pouch and was about to slung it on to his waist when he heard some rustling on the bed behind him.<p>

Temari got up with the same expression on her face when they had a discussion last night. Shikamaru told her that he will be going to Amagakure this morning and he rejected her offer to accompany him on this mission.

"(Sigh)….. I thought we're already done with this….." said Shikamaru as he slung his pouch.

"…It doesn't mean I have to like it…. It's an important day for Shikadai, you of all people should be there….." Temari got up and walked up to her husband.

"I know….. But there are important matters right now that require my attention. That's why I want you to stay for him, for me. He will need support." Shikamaru remembered his days doing the same exam. He placed a hand on Temari's shoulder and used the other to lift up her chin. "Don't worry, I will be bringing people I've known for a long time, we've yet to fail a mission together! Not to mention they're also pretty strong themselves!"

"But-!" Temari was cut off with an unexpected kiss. Her tensed muscles fell under his tenderness and she calmed down.

"I'll see you in a bit!" Shikamaru whispered as he pulled away from his wife.

"….. talk to Shikadai before leaving at least….. I bet he already knows, he was listening last night…"

"You got it!-" Shikamaru turned to leave but stopped in his tracks after seeing his son in the doorway with a disgusted in his face after witnessing his parents smooched each other.

"… eww…gross..." said Shikadai.

* * *

><p>"Make sure you water the plants twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon! The store opens at eight in the morning and closes at four in the afternoon! And make sure to make Inojin lunch every morning! I don't him getting in to a fast food diet- ! Are you even listening to me Sai!"<p>

Sai was trying his best to keep up with his wife while taking down notes at the same time. "I'm sorry Ino….. You're speaking too fast….."

"Well write faster! How am I supposed to do my mission properly without a peace of mind-? Sai?" Sai placed his pad and pen then walked towards his wife. He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in gently, tenderly.

"Come back safely…. Otherwise I will live the rest of my life in despair….."

Ino smiled from that, her husband had certainly had come a long from being so clueless in terms of emotions and interacting with people. She returned the hug and rested her head on his shoulders.

"Don't I'll be going with Shikamaru and Choji, you know how we work together. This will be a piece of cake!"

There was a knock on their front door. Both of them knew that it was now time to part but neither pulled away.

"…. I didn't think it would be this hard to let go…." Ino commented. Sai said nothing and just continued his embrace, remembering every second that goes by might be the last he will see of his wife as he feared. "…You better wake up Inojin. It is chunin exams after all!"

"….Yeah….." Ino broke the ice and pulled away. She walked towards the front door then looked back one last time before leaving. She gave her husband a flying kiss and stepped out. As soon as she shut the door she felt like she cut her relationship. She was beginning to feel bad about this but Shikamaru complained as usual.

"…What took you so long?..."

"You're early! For your information!"

"That's why we came early. Knowing you, you'd take three hour to get ready"

"Shikamaru, should we really start this now….." said Choji, sensing Ino's patience running thin. Shikamaru winked at him and said.

"Don't Choji! I guess I just missed old times!"

"Hmmph!" Ino said scornfully.

"Well….. Shall we get going then?!" Shikamaru asked his companions.

* * *

><p>"What do you think happened to Bolt?" asked Sarada who was pacing back and forth in the lobby. The biggest room they had in the academy was filled to the roof with young shinobi from all corners of the world.<p>

"Hopefully nothing serious" replied Aomika who was leaning against a wall looking calm but really she was also panicking. They need all member of the team to even qualify for the first test. She could see already in the crowd, small schemes of students already trying to subtly take out anyone but their team. If you take out one, you'll potentially take out three as the other two members will not advance without a third member.

"HAH! He's probably at home crying to his mommy!" said Akio arrogantly. He caught both Aomika's and Sarada's attention who stopped in her strides to look at him. Akio smoothly slipped next to Aomika and tried his best act as sexy as possible. "What do you say you join our team instead? We'll trade you with Emi"

"Don't listen to him Mika" Sarada said and continued her impatient strides.

"… I don't think Emi-chan will like that very much…." Aomika replied shyly.

"You don't have to be shy. I'm sure she won't mind!" Akio just noticed Mika's hand gesture. She was pointing him to look behind him. Akio slowly turned to see a dark shady figure of Emi inches away from him.

"….Is there something you want to tell me Akio-kun?" asked Emi in a spooky tone.

"…N-N-No I was talking with Mika-chan how amazing our team is because of you! Right Mika-chan!"

"Right" Both Mika and Akio nodded in chorus to convince the threatening Emi but she didn't seem to budge. Thankfully Lee junior arrived and stepped in between.

"Comrades should not be fighting Akio-kun, Emi-chan" announced Junior but Emi still kept her spooky gaze towards Akio. Then all of a sudden she laughed naughtily.

"Don't worry Junior-Kun! I was just kidding! Someone go get a mop, I think Akio just made a puddle! HAHAHA! Did you see the look on his face Mika-chan?"

"Damn you Emi!" Akio lost his temper and was trying to get his claws on her but Junior was restraining him.

"Akio-kun! You can't! We need three to pass!"

"I don't care! I want to kill her! Let go of me junior!"

"…..look at those guys…..I don't think they'll even make it past this room…."Shikadai commented who was sitting in a corner quietly with his companions.

"Check out those muscles on junior though…ggrrr!" ChoCho blushed as she seemed to be enjoying watching.

"…..If you ask me he looks like a clown!" said Inojin.

"Well no one asked you!" ChoCho retaliated and got Inojin in a head lock. "Just look at you! You're so pale, you look like a dead guy!"

"…..Shika….dai….. help…..me…." Inojin struggled to get those words out through ChoCho tight grip.

"You're on your own Inojin… you got yourself in that mess…" said Shikadai then like a lightning stroke, everyone fell silent as the double doors into the room bursted open and an arrogant looking brat with messy blonde hair and blue eyes was standing in between with arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"Bolt!" Mika and Sarada rejoiced in chorus. Akio looked at his rival scornfully as he easily plucked Mika's attention from him without even trying.

"Alright! Let's get this started-dattebasa!"

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

It wasn't long before Bolt got settled with his teammates that almost everyone in the room was eyeing him with intention of all kinds but well.

"… I think you attracted unwanted attention Bolt…." Commented Sarada as she made a mental note of the potential problems in the crowd. Most of them looked pretty average except for the three shinobis from the sand standing next to Shikadai's group. But the thing that worried her the most was the two teams from the hidden village of rain. It was because they had their sights on Sarada. Their eyes didn't show a hunger for bullying but it was something much more complicated than that. She looked at her teammate who didn't seem to realize the attention she was catching and just continued with her conversation with Akio.

"Is that the town idiot?" asked Chiyoko to her cousin Shikadai when Bolt pushed the double doors open. She had straight brown hair was tied to a single on top of her head with bangs combed to the side showing half of her forehead. She wore a long sleeved fishnet shirt and fishnet leggins under her purple her red tunic. Her one pouch on her back waist filled with first aid equipment but her main weapon was the two mini gourds of sand on either side of her hips.

"Every village has one of those!" Shikadai said as he gestured towards Jiro a tall slim kid for his age who had a wide naughty smile on his face as he looked at the crowd in front of him.

"True that! You're always so cool Shikadai-kun" concurred the girl sitting in between Chiyoko and Jiro, a slim girl of average height for her age with long dark hair that reaches down to her back. She has a pink clip to her long hair to the side and away from her face. She was a cheerful girl with black eyes but a bit of a weirdo in Shikadai's opinion. She wore the same clothes as Chiyoko, except she wore a blue tunic instead of the red, who she considered her rival. She didn't carry two gourds of sand however but rather had two pouches on her back and has a device that opens out into an average sized fan as her greaves and gauntlers. And she's too attached to Shikadai, overly attached.

"Oh…. You're here too…. Yuki…." Shikadai looked at her cousin with a questioning look 'why is she here?'

"She insisted" Chiyoko replied.

"I can't wait till I show this losers who's the boss!" Yuki said getting hyped up. "But when it comes to you Shikadai-kun… I might just melt on the spot…. You're too cool….." Yuki blushed as she fantasized the moment of her dreams where Shikadai in the midst of all the hassle of this exams would get on one knee and propose to her. Shikadai looked at his cousin with an 'it's your fault' look and all he got was:

"It's your problem" she replied. "You know… it's obvious you're happy to see her too!"

"…Don't talk nonsense!"

Then moments later, the moment that got everyone's attention, the double doors opened once again then Aburame Shino along with the Jonin team leaders of the genin teams in the room walked in with news to announce.

"I'm that took long, there were minor preparations that needed to be addressed. Now that everything is ready, follow me!" announced Shino.

Everyone in the room shuffled through the small opening in comparison to the mass that was trying to pass through and after a few push and shoves and some sneaky elbows here and there, everyone managed to get out outside in to the town. In front of the students was a long wide street with shops of different sorts on either side of its length set up for the purpose of this exam. There was a crowd in the middle busy with the morning bargains.

"Let me explain what's in front of you" announced Shino with the Jonin team leaders behind him. "This is your first test. Your Jonin instructors will now hand your teams a list of items you need to gather during the course of this first test. You have three hours to complete the task. If you fail to gather all the items in that span you fail. And one more thing, Stealing is prohibited! If any of your team members are caught during the act! The whole team fails!"

Shino looked at his watch and waited until the second hand reaches number twelve. "Let the exam begin!" He and the team leaders formed a seal and they all puffed into thin air disappearing in front of their students.

Already there were some who were complaining that this task is impossible. They were told not to steal but there were also given no money to get the items on their list.

"That answer is obvious" Sarada whispered in the huddle with her teammates. "We need to teal this items!"

"Aburame-sensei just said we're not allowed to steal!" Protested Aomika.

"It's only illegal if you get caught! Besides we have Bolt, he's a specialist when it comes to illegal. I bet he can't contain himself already right Bolt!" said Sarada.

"You said it Sarada!" replied Bolt.

Already there were other teams who already came to the same conclusion as them that were walking casually and blending in the crowd. The rest of the whiners just sat in their spots already lost hope.

Bolt led the way with pronounced steps and sway of arms. Both Aomika and Sarada both grabbed a handful of his jacket so they wouldn't lose his as they broke through the heavy queue lining up for some 'pork bargain bash'.

"Wait up Bolt! We need to plan and assign on who's getting which items!" said Sarada as tried to avoid mouthfuls of people clothes as they squeezed past. Once they reached daylight from the other side, it wasn't any better. There was already a group caught who was trying to pick one of the townspeople baskets by one of the chunin patrol with the flow of the traffic and another caught while stealing from a food stand. It would seem that they mistook the shop clerks as normal folks they were actually chunins in disguise.

"…..This may be harder than I thought…" Sarada muttered under her breathe. Not only there were patrols but also all the clerks were chunins. That would almost certainly rule out any possibility of stealing from a stand to anyone, even the master Bolt, which leaves them no choice but to pick pocket the townspeople who already bought the goods. Some even tried to use fake money they transmuted from ordinary paper lying around. It would seem that the chunin clerks are sharp enough to know real from fake.

By Sarada's calculations, that was already half of the students busted and failed including the ones that quitted and cried in self-pity back where they started.

"Look! There's a scroll shop over there! It says on the list we need to get three medical scrolls!" said Bolt with enthusiasm as he found his first target. Sarada pulled on his jacket to stop him from making a very foolish mistake.

"No! We can't just steal from the stands straight up! We need to pick pocket the townspeople"

"But how do we know who has which" asked Aomika.

"SHH!" Sarada ordered her teammates to be silent for a moment. "There was a woman that went to that shop to buy three medical scrolls twenty seconds ago". Sarada counted in her head up to ten before another person came by and bought the exact same quantiy of the same product. Just to make sure Sarada waited another thirty seconds to confirm her theory and she was right. There would be a someone who would go up to that shop and pick up the scrolls they needed every thirty seconds and it would seem the same case for every shop.

"Bingo! We follow her!" announced Sarada.

* * *

><p>Shikadai, Inojin and ChoCho found a safe alley way to the side and waited for a target. Inojin sat at the front and had his mind transfer technique ready in front of him.<p>

"Remember, we need three medical scrolls, ten kunais, five smoke bombs and seven explosive tags" whispered Shikadai to Inojin.

"And don't forget to grab me some Anmitsu while you're at it! We walked past one and they looked really tasty!"

"…..but that's not part of the mission…." Shikadai said in 'here we go again' tone.

"I don't care! Get me some or I'll fail all of us!"

"(sigh)…. Let's just hope the person I catch has enough money for all of our 'needs'" said Inojin. "Okay here we go!"

There was a young man esteem clothing walking with the sound a filled bag of coins on his hip. Inojin's body went limp and his two companions could only hope he didn't miss his shot. There was a brief moment as the man stopped dead still. The man's head looked up and gave them a thumbs up.

"Looks like we'll be able to get three servings of anmitsu with this one!" Shikadai rejoiced in their certain victory. People with large sums of money were purposely placed in the crowd by Shino for the students to steal from without getting caught of course.

While Akio's team…..

"…. I can't believe we're doing this…" Akio said blushing as he and Daisuke performed tricks on the side. Lee Junior did his thing walking on two hands while balancing a bow staff on each of his heels. Emi did her best to gather a crowd and laid down her coat where viewers can toss in their donations. "I just hope Aomika doesn't walk past this way…. Junior seems to be enjoying this though…"

"I hope Sarada-chan and her team walks past this way to see my moves!" Junior told Akio.

"NO WE DON'T!" replied Akio impatiently.

* * *

><p>Chiyoko, Yuki and Jiro had other methods in mind though. Jiro used transformation technique to transform himself to look like an adult and wearing the same clothing as the patrol chunins.<p>

"I believe I you Jiro-kun! Yuki cheered her teammate while hiding in the alley they found. "And say hi to Shikadai-kun for me if you run in to him! And give him this for me!" Yuki stepped closer to Jiro and kissed him on the cheek.

"…Eww! I'm doing that! I'm not kissing him!" Jiro protested as he wiped his cheek.

"…. It's from me, not you…." Yuki said teary eyed.

"But I'll be the one kissing him-nevermind…" Jiro said in defeat.

"Just get on with it Jiro…. This amount of people is suffocating me!" Chiyoko complained.

"Alrighty!" Jiro stepped in to the crowd and followed the path of the chunin patrols that they had examined beforehand. It wasn't long before Jiro spotted a girl carrying all of the stuff in their list as she was running back to her team.

'Jackpot! All I need to do is to arrest her!'

* * *

><p>The three hour deadline was nearing its completion and the crowd started to cool down and trickly away as it gets closer to the deadline. Shino and the Jonins were waiting at the place where they had left their students to wait for those who managed to get it done. They had already failed the ones they found drowing in self-pity and the ones that were caught.<p>

At the three hour mark, the street returned to its usual routine and the chunin patrols and clerks walked towards where Shino was then slowly, the students slowly made their way back from their hiding spots to face their teachers. But not all of them had victory grins on the faces. Others managed to get some of the items but not all and were failed.

Shino was disappointed that more than half failed the first test but was glad that the three teams from Konoha that he had high hopes for managed to get the job done. Konohamaru was smiling his students who were winking at him with Bolt in the middle handling all the goods.

Sarada was happy that her friends made it through but felt uneasy of the two teams form the hidden rain who also made it through.

"Shikadai-kun!" Yuki jumped on her crush at the first of him. "I thought I would never see you again…."

"…You don't need to over act you know…" Shikadai felt embarrassed that all eyes were on them two.

"Well done to those who completed the first test? I will now hand you over to your next examiner" Shino announced as he made way for Kiba who took the spot in front. He was in a good mood after seeing his nephew pass the first test but was grinning naughtily as he thought 'let's see if you can smile like that after this test!' towards his nephew Akio.

"I hope you had fun doing that exercise for five year olds because the real test begins now!" Kiba said in a roar. "…no offense Shino!"

"….none taken….." Shino muttered silently.

"Now! Follow me to the forty-fourth training grounds! I shall explain the rules when we get there!" Kiba led the way with Akamaru at a pretty quick pace.

"What's the forty-fourth training grounds?" Aomika asked.

"It's a forest and a dangerous training area" replied Akio barely containing his excitement in his voice.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

All the remaining students stood in groups with their respective teams. There was a high fenced forest in front of them with 'Danger!' and 'Stay Away!' signs everywhere. There were some which discussed their uncertainties with their teammates 'What are we doing here?' 'It says to keep away! Why are we here?!' were some of the complaints that went around.

"Let me keep this simple!" Kiba said silencing the all the rumbles and stole everyone's attention. "At the centre of this forest is a tower. You need to reach that tower in one week to pass the test!"

'Is that all?' 'That's too easy!' again, were some of the things said in discussions among the students. Kiba smiled that his students are already getting excited at the same time wondered what expressions they would make once he finished explaining the rules. He reached behind his back and pulled out two scrolls.

"You need both of these to enter the tower!" Kiba announced again that silenced the crowd and all set of eyes were on him once again. "But here is the best bit! Half of you will get the heaven scroll and half of you will get the earth scroll!... In other words only half of you will pass, if you managed to not get killed by the giant three-headed wolf in there! In terms of killing one another….. there are no rules. But I'd rather if you guys didn't make a mess cause I'll have to clean it up afterwards!"

There was no discussions after that only the students looked at each other just hypothetically working out the half that pass and the other half that would fail. They would include themselves among the victors of course but there was one group that had no motivation at all.

"…..man… we should just quit, they all look good…" Shikadai complained to his teammates.

"I would too… but I'm more worried what my mom would do once she found out that I quitted…." Inojin joined his friend in misery.

"….Oh yeah… that too…" Shikadai concurred.

"One week in there….. I wonder what kind of food we'll have to eat…hopefully not bugs, they're disgusting!" ChoCho said that a little too loud that the group next to them heard what she said. Emi slowly turned head to look at ChoCho. Her death stare pierced through her goggles that sent shivers to everyone in Shikadai's team.

"Did you say something ChoCho…" emi asked accusingly.

"Uhmm… NO!NO! I meant I love bugs! They're so cute girl! I must look disgusting when I squeal and jump around when I see one! ChoCho said with as much innocence as she can muster to her tone.

"….." Emi continued her stare for a while longer until Shikadai, Inojin and ChoCho turned blue in fear on the spot. She smiled naughtily and slowly turned away. She liked doing those, antagonising her friends. The expressions they show are priceless she thought.

"Head over there!" Kiba pointed to an enclosed tent. "You can collect your scrolls there then you will have an hour to prepare before the test begins!"

Slowly, the groups took turns going into one end of the tent then existing on the far end with their scroll already concealed with one of their group members.

There were twelve teams in total that was left as Sarada counted. Her team were sitting behind a tree examining their earth scroll between them.

"Who should have it?" Aomika asked.

"I should carry it since I'm the most capable!" Bolt said in arrogance.

"NO! If anything you'll be the first target in a fight since you're the weakest!" countered Sarada.

"What did you say Sarada?!" Bolt jolted back to her but Sarada ust ignored him.

"Perhaps I should carry it?" Aomika suggested.

"You're the most capable fighter among us; we want you at your best in a fight. So that just leaves but I'm also the most obvious since I'm neither the strongest nor the weakest in the team."

"…..So…What's it gonna be?" asked Aomika. Sarada pulled out an empty scroll from her pouch then placed it next to their earth scroll.

"We'll make a decoy and have me carry it and we'll have…. Bolt carry the real one since Mika's skills are much needed than his….. We'll have to use a formation where I'm in the safest spot to take eyes away from Bolt."

"Hmmmphh! Just admit that you acknowledge m-!" Bolt said in hurt. All three of them stopped as they heard whispers. A rather loud whisper and they all slapped their foreheads at the realisation that they recognised the voices.

"I think ChoCho should have the scroll" said Inojin. "She can hide the scroll under her fat"

"It's called curves blondie" ChoCho said as a matter of fact and flicked her hair sassily that it whipped across Inojin's face.

"OW! You got my eye!"

"(sigh)…. We gonna die…." Shikadai said as he watched his teammates. He looked over to his cousin Chiyoko and her team they looked calm and ready to battle until Yuki broke in to a smile and waved back at him as soon as she noticed he was looking at them. Shikadai knew that as innocent as she looks, when she gets it going in a fight no one can beat her. Then there was his cousin a silent but deadly woman, he's never beaten her in a game of shogi or in sparring. Then there was Jiro who Shikadai wasn't particularly close to but if Chiyoko says he's stronger than her, then he must be a monster. In fact Shikadai would be surprised if anyone can land a scratch on any of them. "This is going to be one trouble exam…."

"Hey uncle! This test is too easy! I probs won't even break a sweat!" Akio said as stretching in front of their designated gate. Just moments ago each team were lead to their designated gate with a hundred and twenty countdowns on a digital clock on top of the gate.

"HAH! I'd like to hear you say that in one week's time you little brat!" Kiba said while giving his nephew a good one on his noggin.

"110…111…..112" Junior muttered under his breath as he timed his push ups with the countdown.

"…oi junior….. you don't wanna tire yourself before it even starts…." Akio gave a suggestion to his teammate all he got in return was a thumbs and a glaring flash from Junior's smile.

"Don't worry Akio-Kun! I've got this!"

"…Ok….." Akio responded. He looked over to his other teammate Emi who was as quiet as always but probably under the shade of her hood was an excited grin. He was going to say something like 'You ready?' or 'Ready to kick some butt?!' but he might just receive a prolonged stare from her that would make him regret he talked to her, what a weirdo he thought.

The digital clock's countdown reached the last five seconds with a beep on each count. When it reached zero the beep was longer and the hinges on the gates creaked as they haven't been opened in a long time. At the signal of their instructor, each group dashed and disappeared in the shadow of the forest.

"Shall we hunt for a heaven scroll or find food and water first?"asked Aomika as they ran up the trunk of a tree and settle on a branch hidden amongst its leaves.

"I say we just keep heading to the centre. Whichever we run into first is our priority" said Sarada but already another group as already on them. A smoke bomb was thrown into their little hiding spot. None of them had time to think so they each jumped out. Unfortunately they jumped in separate direction and got themselves separated.

'Dammit! How did they know we were there?!' Sarada puzzled as she barely got out without a scratch. She landed in to an open area with no signs of her teammates or the ones who ambushed them. Then she heard a voice from somewhere close, the voice of Bolt who sounded hurt.

'Dammit!' I knew they'd be targeting him!' Sarada concluded that their ambusher have been studying them and isolated their weakest member from the rest. 'I need to get to him quickly!'

Sarada made for the side of the tree where the voice came from but there was a fist only it was made out of sand that hooked around from the blind spot of the tree. She managed to dodge in time matrix-style then tumbled to the side and raised a kunai in a crouched position.

'How did she saw me?!' Sarada asked then out of the corner of her eye she saw a floating eyeball that was made out of sand. She quickly threw kunai towards it and hit. The eyeball collapsed in to sand and fell to the ground. Her enemy stepped in her vision from behind the tree and she recognised her. 'What her name again? Chiyoko?'

"No one will get hurt if you don't fight. That's what we told your teammate but he was a little stubborn hence the cry and hence why I'm out here to stop you cause he revealed our location with that little cry!" Chiyoko explained.

Aomika on the other hand made it on to another tree and waited in concealment then she heard a cry from Bolt and she made for the general direction as swiftly and quietly as possible. The only mistake she did was making herself visible which made Yuki's job easier. As soon as Aomika stepped out of her hiding she felt a strong gust of wind on her body and before she knew it, she was pinned against a tree.

Bolt was crouched grabbing his shoulder with a deep wound and burn marks around the opening. He was gritting his teeth in pain but also cursing that he was in a disadvantage. The opponent in front of him had short messy brown hair with ragged clothes. His opponent was readying another bow and arrow made out of fire.

"Just hand over the scroll and I promise I won't make you cry anymore!" Jiro said.

'Dammit!Dammit! What do I do?!' Bolt curse himself.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

There was a loud whirl of wind not too long after Sarada heard the cry from Bolt. She concluded that all of them got separated and are now fighting their own one on ones. 'Aomika's got her hands full….. Judging from the sound she must have a tough opponent….. Looks like I need to finish this quickly to save Bolt!'Sarada thought but it wasn't as easy as that. The opponent in front of her was calm and alert. She had a straight face and the only movements she made were shuffling her feet in a weaving pattern to counter Sarada's movements when she was circling around her. She two sets of sand, one is shaped like a hoop floating around her waist and another is all clustered in a ball a metre in front of her. Obviously the belt was for defence and the ball was for offense and she can do both at the same time.

'Hmmm… This is troublesome…' Sarada thought. She tried playing the waiting game for a couple of minutes but Chiyoko never showed any signs of impatience. Chiyoko knew that it was only a matter of time before Jiro gets the scroll from the 'town idiot'and took advantage of the fact that Sarada was the one playing against time here. 'Dammit!' Sarada cursed under her breathe.

Sarada formed a series of seals then took a deep breathe. She blew through her fingers and a series of fireballs flew towards Chiyoko. She saw the sand around Chiyoko's waist formed a screen in front of her; only shielding the ones that was actually in line and let the rest flew past her, but didn't see the ball of sand shaped in a fist flanking her. Sarada only saw it when it was inches from her face and could only hope that it wasn't lethal in the time before impact. Instead the sand broke on impact and morphed around her body in to a cocoon and only left her face exposed.

"There's no point in struggling. You'll never get out" Chiyoko said as she took a seat and leaned back on a tree while Sarada was frozen in the cocoon. Even though already warned, Sarada still tried to move but were struggles were to no avail.

'!' both Sarada and Chiyoko felt the sudden increase of chakra in their surroundings. "It looks like we got company!" Chiyoko stood up then retreated next to the still imprisoned Sarada. Just as Chiyoko left, two shurikens slammed on the ground from above then their throwers soon followed.

"She's not here!" one of the boys said to the other. Sarada noticed them as the genins from the hidden village of rain. Chiyoko on the other hand thought they meant Yuki who had their team scroll so she their feet with sand to stop them from leaving.

"OH! So you wanna play!" the other boy said.

"Pssst!" Sarada said to get noticed but Chiyoko's gaze was fixed upon the two new opponents. She wasn't the usual calm and collected and had sweat running down her forehead Sarada thought which meant that these guys are stronger.

"What do you want?!" Chiyoko said annoyed that she was being distracted while in a middle of a fight.

"Let me go. You need my help. I know you know their strong!" Sarada backed up her case. Chiyoko hesistated but she knew she needed help in this fight but she doubted this little girl with glasses would make much difference, their opponents were monsters. You could physically see chakra emitting around them.

* * *

><p>Aomika gave Yuki a 'better luck next time' smile then revealed that one that she pinned was a substitution. Moments after she got pinned, she puffed and revealed that it was just a tree branch. Yuki's relaxed mood turned tense and quickly jumped forward at the slightest movement of wind behind her and dodged an ambush. Even though Aomika's first attempt of ambush with a kunai stab failed, she quickly formed seals and breathe out a stretch of flame.<p>

Yuki twisted and spun like a top that produced a whirlwind around her and extinguished the oncoming flames. As soon as Yuki felt the warm air around her cool down, she stopped spinning only to find another present problem. There was a thin slice of horizontal high pressured of each air and water (from Aomika's canteen) ready to slice her in half. Yuki kicked using the fans behind her heels to propel her upwards then bowed forward then extended both legs to shoot herself towards her opponent.

'Air, Water, and fire?' Yuki wondered how Aomika could use so many elemental techniques. Yuki fastened her fans and she slid out half a metre long chakra blades that protruded out from underneath her fans on top of her forearm.

She came too fast for Aomika to form seals and Aomika was forced to hop backwards to dodge the first slice. Aomika pulled out a couple of kunais, one in each hand but she knew that their pretty much useless against those blades with wind chakra running through it. They would get cut like knife on butter.

It was a mini stand-off between the two of them until a pair of arms wrapped around Aomika from behind and snatched her away. Yuki was about to follow but she was cut off by someone who was wearing the same forehead protector as the one that took Aomika, the hidden village of rain forehead protector.

"I've got her!" the girl holding Aomika announced.

"Go I'll take care of this girl!" the other said as she cut in front of Yuki in mid-air.

* * *

><p>Jiro was about to fire another arrow when he felt a couple of new sources of chakra in coming fast. He turned and aimed up at the trees above. His eyes always shifting, he could feel the sources halted somewhere up there and just as he was about to fire his arrow when he spotted what looked like clothing. Bolt jumped on his back and pinned him on the ground.<p>

"HAH! I've got you now!" Bolt said out loud causing Jiro to wince at the sound of his voice.

"You fool! You killed us both!"

Bolt was unsure what he meant but everything became clear when he saw a couple of hostile looking contestants in the exam emerged out of the trees to attack them. Bolt got of Jiro's back on time to give both of them a chance to dodge a couple of shurikens thrown at them.

Bolt grimaced at the pain his injured shoulder was giving him as he tumbled on the ground. Once he got settled he tried moving it to form seals but it was too numb and limp to move. 'Dammit!' Bolt cursed again. "Dammit you bow and arrow freak!" Bolt let out his anger towards Jiro who was warning him from the attack coming above him.

"Don't look at me idiot! Look above you!" Jiro said but it was probably too late for Bolt. Jiro did his best to change the course of one of the attackers by shooting an arrow in his path but the rest was up to Bolt.

The boy over Bolt pulled back his kunai for the stab. He put all of his weight behind the stab but Bolt wasn't scared to catch it. Bolt took the pain of the kunai on his hand then tightening his grip; he pulled his opponent closer then bit him on the shoulder.

Jiro smiled at the courage of Bolt which in turn gave him enough time to ready another arrow and shoot the boy on the back to save Bolt.

The boy yelled in pain then retreated next to his female teammate.

"Dammit! I had him!" Bolt wasn't afraid to express his annoyance.

"No you didn't! I just saved your life dumbass!" Jiro returned the tone.

"Seems these guys were better than expected!" the girl said to her partner. "Let's do it!"

"Release!" both of them chorus then a pulse the air around them back which stole Bolt's and Jiro's attention towards them. It wasn't just that, the feel of their chakra felt different and a thousand times bigger than before. Their eyes lit up like a flash light then chakra emitted around their bodies.

"What now?" Bolt asked Jiro who he concluded was his friend in that situation because he looked to be the least hostile.

"Run?" Jiro suggested. He knows his abilities well and both of them are out leagued. If Bolt wasn't badly wounded maybe, they would have put up a good fight but looking at his injury now…. His left arm is completely useless. 'Dammit you made me hurt you! Why did you have to be so stubborn!' Jiro cursed himself but looking into Bolt's eyes, Jiro saw no sign of fear instead a burning fire.

'Unbelievable….a normal human being would be wetting the floor by now…..' Jiro thought. '….Dammit now I have to stay or I'll look like a wimp!'

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Normal people wouldn't be able to break free once Chiyoko's sand gets a hold of them but these two just hopped off like it was nothing. Chiyoko was astonished but she didn't let that distract her from her resolve and that was to beat these two. She stretches her sand off the ground to follow the two. One of them dodged the chasing sand, placed both of her feet on a tree then launched himself towards Chiyoko. Again the amount of leg power he demonstrated was beyond human normal human physical limits. Chiyoko's sand was known to be the fastest sand even faster than her father's but this one jump made it look pathetic.

Within a second her opponent was hovering just on front of her. Her defensive sand was already shifting to defend her but she didn't it was going to make it in time. She saw the glint the sunlight made against the edge of her opponents kunai as he readied it. It all felt in slow motion but everything snapped into reality when she heard a clash of metal on metal and some sparks to snap her vision in to reality.

Sarada was standing in between and blocked the kunai with her own kunai. Chiyoko turned her attention to the other boy that circled around them. Because he took a longer path, Chiyoko's sand was able to make it in time to shield an oncoming punch. She could feel the power behind that punch as the shockwave went beyond her sand barrier and pushed Chiyoko back a little bit. Her barrier was tested to its limit as well as if it was stronger by a tiny bit it would have given way.

Finally her offensive sand caught up and she tried to trap the one with Sarada but they were just too fast and dodge it. She felt pressure of her sand barrier as the other boy pushed off but only to blow a pump of water through his mouth on the sand barrier. Her sand dampened and darkened then crumbled into useless clumps. The boy smiled at his accomplishment and readied another technique as he formed a series of seals.

Sarada was caught off balance from the sudden loss of pressure when her opponent moved out of the way for Chiyoko's sand. He disappeared from view then less than a second later Sarada felt a hot spot on her left cheek and a growing amount of pain. Before she knew it was smashed against the nearest tree in her path. Her impact caved into its trunk nearly taking out all its support as the rest of the tree leaned then stopped once it got to a comfortable position. Sarada wasn't sure if the reason why her vision was blurry because she was about to pass out or because the lenses on her glasses smashed. But it seemed to be the latter as she passed out before even realising it.

Chiyoko was left to fight handicapped not only because it was two on one but also because she lost half of her sand as well. They circled around her like a pair of wolves circling around its prey. One set of her sand was barely enough to block an attack, what more coming from two sources. She would have called for help but judging from the noises from the background these two freaks came with more than just two and that her friends have their hands pretty full.

"Now that I got a good look at her….. She's actually quite a looker!" one of them chatted.

"Too bad… she's not on our side though…. Oh well…..I'm there are plenty of other girls around as pretty as her!" the other said and with that came another charge and punch. Chiyoko surrendered all her sand just to block that attack but it wasn't as stiff as before. It flexed under the pressure then quickly morphed around the victim's body covering everything from head to toe. That also left her defenceless from the other guy but she prepared herself for that in turn she got a nice knee on her left abdomen taking a casualties around her lower left ribs. She fought to stay on her feet so she just drifted across on the ground leaving a trail. She wrapped her right arm around her injured area and tried to breathe evenly under the pain. Even though the pain was excruciating, she had a smile on her face and had her left hand in a claw like position.

"If I'm going down, at least I'll take one of you freaks with me! Sand Coffin!" Chiyoko roared then clenched her fists. The sand compressed inwards and blood squirted and leaked through the sand. The boy was horrified to see his teammate killed in such a manner. "Take that bastards!"

It was now Chiyoko's turn to be surprised. An arm punched through her sand coffin even after all that blood and it wasn't the same arm of a boy, it was an arm of a full grown man. Then her sand gave way to the amount of pressure it was experiencing from chakra coming within.

"Geez….. you scared me…. I thought you died…"

"We weren't suppose to release level two yet but against such a strong opponent, it can't be helped"

"I know….. Look what you've done pretty girl! Now we're gonna have to kill you!"

It wasn't the same boy Chiyoko trapped. Though he was wearing the same clothes, he outgrew them in mere seconds which isn't possible Chiyoko thought. 'How could he turn himself into a full grown man just like that?!'

The two took a step forward and Chiyoko tried to take a step backwards to compensate but a massive amount of pain shock waved to her brain and she was forced to fall on her knees and blood dripped out of her mouth. The damage she took on her ribs, maybe even her lungs, is taking its toll now and hurting her. 'Dammit!...' They took a series of steps closer but Chiyoko's strength had left her defenseless to sit there and wait for her death while coughing up blood. The two were now standing in front of her towering over her beaten figure.

"Any last words?" said both in chorus then out of nowhere as if the wind carried him in, Lee junior appeared in between them.

"It is not nice for guys to pick on girls! Have you no honour?! You will pay for what you did to Sarada-san and this young lady here!"

"Pssst! Check this guy out! We'll make you eat those words!"

"Stop it! Run! These guys are strong!" said Chiyoko but the boy in front of him stretched out his right arm out then gave her a thumbs up and gave her a sparkling smile.

"It is alright Miss! My name is Rock Lee jnr! I am strong too!"

* * *

><p>"Bolt isn't it?" Jiro asked as they slowly backed away from their opponents.<p>

"Yes, why?"

"I just at want to know the idiot that I'll die with!"

"Idiot? We'll see who'll have the last laugh of this fight!"

"Meh. That's a nice 'last words' before you die" Jiro readied another arrow while Bolt placed a kunai with his teeth and held another with his right hand. Jiro fired the arrow straight up then he formed seals. The arrow then split into hundreds of mini meteors to rain down on their opponents.

One moment there stood the boy and girl the next they were gone leaving only a puff of dust on their place before the meteors could land.

'Damn they're fast!' Jiro thought as he sensed the enormous chakra behind them. To his astonishment, Bolt already jumped to engage them. He held both kunais in one hand now and threw them at once each aimed at both separate targets, but there was more. Bolt was able to move his left arm now and formed a seal. 'How is he able to heal so quickly?'

Just as the kunais were about to hit their target, they transformed into clones of Bolt. Both their oppoenents were only planning to twist to dodge the kunai so they weren't out of reach from Bolt when he transformed. Both of Bolt's clones grabbed each of their targets in a bear hug.

"Now! Arrow freak!" The real Bolt ordered.

"Now bad for a dumbass!" Jrio pulled back two bigger arrow this time. Twice the size of his normal ones. 'Judgement arrow'. Though it had speed that can compete with the speed of light but it took a longer time to prepare. At his release both arrows disappeared from his bow and instantaneously appeared protruding through the bodies of the boy and girl.

Bolt's clones puffed the revealed the area that their opponents were pierced. The fire started to spread and soon enough, their whole bodies were on fire.

"Way to go Arrow freak!" Bolt cheered.

"Don't call me that!"

Their little rejoicing was spoiled by a girl voice that they recognized as their opponent.

"OUCH! That hurt! Now look what you did! You forced me to release level 2! I hate going into this state, it makes me look buff! I lose my sexy slim figure!"

"Shut up! It can't be helped!" the boy next to her said. They bodies were still burning but they didn't look like the ten year old kids they were just a second ago.

"I take that back Arrow freak! You didn't do a good enough shot!"

"…impossible….. that was my strongest attack!"

"Well it was weak! Look at them! They're just laughing it off!"

"I'd like to see you do better idiot!"

Before they could argue any further, a huge shadow came over them. It collapsed on them and grabbed them out of their troublesome situation.

"BUGS! WHAT THE HELL!" Jiro yelled inside.

* * *

><p>There was no talk between Yuki and her opponent. Her opponent took off the lid on her canteen then formed a seal then chanted 'Water thorn!' The water from her canteen extended out and froze into ice. The thorns missed Yuki completely but it was her fans that was the main target and were destroyed. Now with Yuki unable to fly, her opponent formed another series of seal then sliced horizontally facing downwards in front of her feet. The tree branch Yuki was on was cut perfectly and fell.<p>

Injuries were easy to avoid with that kind of trick. Yuki just jumped off and settled on another branch but the goal was accomplished by her opponent, it was to slow her down. When Yuki looked up her opponent was already gone. As much as she would like to follow her, her opponent already had a head start and she had no way of tracking her. And judging from her opponent's physical attributes, she was much faster than Yuki.

The thing that puzzled Yuki was why didn't they go after the scroll that she was carrying. Aomika didn't have her team's scroll and if they were stalking them, they would know that fact. 'Why? Why grab her instead of my scroll?'

Moments after another figure arrived overhead that just bypassed her. He looked sweaty and scared but for some reason he was following with an iron will. Yuki got on his tail and caught up to him.

"Hey! Can you track them?"

"So long as I can smell them! I'll follow them and rip them to pieces" Akio said angrily but warily.

Yuki knew that he was out of his mind and tackled him mid-air. She slammed him against a tree trunk and pressed her forearm under his chin.

"Ok, you've got to calm down! You're no match for them!"

"Who do you think you are?! Get off me!"

"Someone who's ten times stronger than who just had her ass handed to her!"

"I don't know who you are and I don't care!They took my friend! I ain't letting them get away with that!"

"Fine! get yourself killed!" Yuki gave up. He was right, she had no right to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants to do with his life. As for her she had other friends that might need her help. Akio on the other hand had sense knocked into him. He reacted too hastily when he saw Aomika got captured. He doesn't know how strong his opponents are but assuming they're evenly skilled it will be a two on one against him. Yuki got off him and looked at him in to the eyes, his rage had cooled and he didn't seem to be jumpy like before.

Yuki's arms and legs were covered in blood streams from multiple scratches she suffered from the ice thorns.

"You look like you need some bandages" Akio said.

"I'm fine. You should round up your team if you want to chase after your friend. By the looks of things, they don't intend to kill her so you got time to prepare"

Yuki paused in her track as she spotted a single bug flying across her. She followed it with her gaze and it landed on Akio's shoulder. Then a puppy emerged from Akio's shirt that responded to the bug which freaked Yuki.

"You might want to come with us" Akio said in a serious tone. "This might concern you too"

Yuki followed his lead and said "Do you speak dog?"

"HAHA! I'll take that as a compliment!"

* * *

><p>The first thing that Akio and his team was set up a camp near a riverbank in the outskirts of the jungle. They entered through an entrance near the diagonal where the river runs across. Akio told his teammates it would be wise to secure a source of water since they didn't know how long they will be hunting. It wasn't too long since they found their first target.<p>

Emi had snuck one of her bugs among a team from the village of rain they ran past. She announced the good news once she found out that she just found a heaven's scroll.

"Alright! This is easier than I thought!" Akio said excitedly with Daisuke barking in concrrance. "Which wasy?"

"Follow me" Emi said.

They travelled silently as they stalked the three from the village of rain composed of two boys and a girl.

"Which one of them has the scroll?" junior asked.

"The girl"

Just as they were about to make their move, another group appeared and travled next to their target.

"What the hell! Are they allies?!" Akio said in anger they were so close on possibly being the first ones to finish this exams if the other team from the village of rain didn't show up. Akio and his team slowed a little to give a longer distance between his group and the other. "What's going on Emi"

"They're talking about someone…. Asami?...They've located her….. Apparantly she's with a blonde haired boy and a girl with glasses….."

"That's Sarada-san!" Junior said.

"And Aomika! But who is Asami?" Akio wondered. "But either way we need to follow them , they could be in danger!"

* * *

><p>Akio led Yuki to the campsite they had set up earlier. His whole team was there along with Yuki's team and Bolt's. Bolt was sitting down bandaged up with a skinny boy next to him. Sarada lying on a sheet on the side still passed out. Then with Emi and junior, there was a girl with red tunic that looked in a critical condition.<p>

"Chiyoko-sama!" Yuki yelped as she ran to her side. "What happened?!"

"I'm ok Yuki…. Just a little bruised ribs….." she tried her best to sound ok a cough of blood went up her throat that ruined her disguise. She was looking pale and limp now.

"…There's not much I can do….. she suffered internal bleeding in her lungs….. she needs medcial attention ASAP. First aid won't do it."

"There should be some doctors at the tower" said Akio.

"But we will need both scrolls to enter" said Jiro.

There was a brief silence to everyone as they all knew what was needed to be done. Someone will need to surrender their scroll. Junior reached around to his pouch and pulled out their earth's scroll. He offered it to Chiyoko who was shocked as the rest of them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUNIOR!" cried Akio.

"I'm sorry Akio-kun but I cannot just let this girl like this. It is a man's job to protect them and that's what I will do"

"Stop being such a gentleman! We barely know them!"

"That doesn't change the fact that she needs immediate medical attention" replied junior.

"Even if you give us that scroll….. me and Jiro can't carry her on our own…. We're both injured…" stated Yuki. Junior unpacked his pouches and backpack and let them drop on the ground. He crouched in front of Chiyoko and stretched out his arms behind him.

"I'll carry her!" he offered. "Come on, every second counts"

Yuki didn't like this easy way of acquiring a scroll but they had no choice. She took it and she and Jiro helped Chiyoko up on to Junior's back. Once she was secure on his back, Chiyoko rested her head on his shoulder and whispered a warm 'Thank you Lee-kun' in to his ear.

Lee blushed at the mention of his real name. She was the first one to every call him that apart from his parents.

"I won't forget this….." She continued but it was obvious in her voice that she was losing strength.

"You shouldn't speak anymore….. Don't worry! I'll take care of you!"

The rest of them watched as the four left and disappeared into the trees.

"Damn! That junior! Why does he have to be a boy scout! Now what are we going to do!" cried Akio.

"For starters, we need to get Aomika back!" stated Bolt. Immediately Akio's crying mode change in to a killer mode.

"You're right!" he agreed.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

'Let go of me!' was what Aomika wanted to shout if her mouth wasn't tied up like the rest of her body. The rest of their group slowly trickled back to their camp with some looking worse than others.

"The hell happened to you? Aiko? Goro?" asked Haru their leader.

"We ran into a bowled hair freak with thick eyebrows! I've never seen anyone can compete with us at that level especially when we're at level two!"

"I guess you had no choice….. we're not supposed to unleash the third and final form… But we managed to get what we came for!" Haru gestured towards Aomika who was watching from her tied up sitting position bewildered.

"Don't worry Asami-sama. Everything will be made clear soon enough. We just need to wait for the other three. They are sure taking their time!" Haru said. "And forgive us for restraining you like this…. You're not you at the moment.

'Asami-sama….I don't understand….and why are they so formal when they're talking to me?' Aomika wondered.

Shortly after the other three dropped in with delighted faces as they saw Aomika.

"Asami-sama! It's been a while! I hope they didn't treat you like trash! They will pay that!" Hina said. (The one that fought Yuki).

"Get to you positions Hina, Mai, and Mino" commanded Haru. "Let's get this over and done with"

The six of them sat around Aomika evenly in a hexagon shape.

"Your mind was heavily sealed by a genjutsu. Basically we rewrote your memories what we wanted them to see and sealed the real ones in here" said Haru as he pulled a clear bottle with a seal on it. In the inside was a shiny orb in the centre with white aura orbiting around it. "It was a necessary precaution in case the leaf tries to extract information from you"

Aomika was scared, she didn't know who these people were and she didn't know what they were doing except for the fact that it looks bad. Each of them extended their palms towards her and chanting the same weird words. Their eyes suddenly lit glaring white then Aomika's head jolted up and her eyes lit up like the rest. The bottle of her memories erupted and the contents hurriedly entered her throat.

After all that, Aomika lost consciousness and fell limp while the six keeled over with sweat all over their body and panting heavily. Then all of them felt something behind a bush nearby. Even though exhausted, they were still capable fighters it's just they won't be able to release their true forms for a while. The six backed against each other with Aomika's knocked out formed in the epicentre.

"It's probably those brats!" said Goro. "It that bushy brow kid is with them we don't stand a chance!"

Now every bush around them rustled then a hundred Bolts jumped out of each bush yelling the same thing. "Get them!"

Each one of them tried to react but they each experienced a paralysing pain throughout their body. Bolt saw that opening and threw three shurikens, one leading and the other two lagging behind. Haru was on the receiving end but could not move his arms to block so he offset his balance to the side so he would fall.

The first of the shurikens went past then transformed once it got to their epicentre. It was Emi who immediately surround herself and Aomika with bugs. The next set soon transformed into Akio and Daisuke who were already in their Gatsuga technique. They smashed on to the group of enemies, breaking the ground and sending everyone in the vicinity in different directions.

Emi and Aomika were fine since both of them were covered in a bug shield while the six were heavily damaged. It was Sarada's turn now, while the enemy was motionless, she targeted the two people who carried their corresponding team's scrolls according to Emi. Sarada swept by each of them as fast as lightning and while she was at it grab both scrolls and nodded at Bolt. Bolt released all of his clones which turned out to be every Bolt in the battle arena while during that time Akio and Emi slipped away with Aomika.

They all gathered at the planned rendezvous point where Bolt was sitting and waiting for his companions. Once everyone was gathered they all left at the same time. All of them were too busy to notice that it was well into the night already and their surroundings were pretty much pitching dark. Thankfully Emi left a bug in their camping spot to follow otherwise they would be completely lost.

They got to the camp. Bolt's team were eligible to enter the tower now since they have both scrolls but decided to do it in the morning since it was too dark.

"Here you go" Sarada handed one of the heaven scrolls to Akio. "Just as promised"

"Thank you! It really is too bad that junior that gave our scroll away….."

"At this rate he might even land a girlfriend before you!" Sarada joked.

"HA! That's not gonna happen. And you better watch your earth's scroll, in here we're not exactly friends….. who knows who might take an interest on it….."

"Got it!" Sarada replied, returning the smirk on Akio's face as he made his way to his team's corner. Sarada walked the opposite way towards Bolt who was cowering over Aomika.

"How is she?"

"Nothing…. But she looks like she's dreaming….." Bolt pointed to the sweating Aomika and the occasional jerking of her head.

* * *

><p>"Good morning Sai-kun!" Hinata greeted the shopkeeper who had an apron on and joyfully water the plants.<p>

"AH! Hinata-san! And little Himawari!" Sai knelt down and patted Himawari on the head.

"Where Inojin-nii-san?" Himawari asked in a cute bubbly voice.

"He's still doing the exam little Himawari. But he should finish by tomorrow!"

Himawari was still too little too understand simple things like that and she went sad.

"Don't be sad Himawari" her mother comforted her. "Inojin will come and see us as soon as possibl! Right Sai-kun?"

"Right!"

"See Himawari! There's no need to be sad! Anyway let's look around for your flowers!" Hinata led her daughter to the corner where the new stocks of sunflowers were placed. The doorbell rang once more as the door opened. This time it was Konohamaru who was carrying probably more bags that his two hands can handle.

"…..Are you all right Konohamaru-kun?..." Sai asked.

"…pregnant women…. You know what they're like…."

"….indeed…" Sai remembered what Ino was like when was pregnant with Inojin. He promised to himself that this won't happen again.

"Oh Konohamaru-kun!" Hinata and Himawari came around the corner with a pot of a sunflower sapling. "How is Hanabi doing?" Hinata asked cheekily as she was just with her sister earlier when Konohamaru was shopping for groceries.

"Uh… She's handling the pregnancy thing fine I guess…"

"Uncle Konohamaru!"

"Little Himawari, you really like sunflowers huh?" said Konohamaru. Himawari returned a huge smile and held up her pot of a sunflower sapling.

After buying a flower for his dear pregnant wife, Konohamaru was walking home when he spotted Shiroku and Satomi at a tea house.

"…..Stop winking at her… its creepy…. You know….." said Satomi as she sipped her tea. She was beginning to doubt that Shiroku chose this place because they had nice tea or because they had nice girls. One particular girl in fact keeps getting on her nerves. It was a Jonin instructor about aged eighteen from the village of rain with the other jonin instructor with shades sitting opposite her. She had long dark hair really brings out her blue eyes.

"What? She's smiling back!"

Satomi slammed her tea cup on the table and stood up. "Have fun drinking tea by yourself!" she left leaving havoc wherever she took step. It was obvious in her face that she was expecting something romantic to happen between them.

Konohamaru spectated the whole scenario unfold and slapped her forehead. 'Smooth…..Shiroku…. Smooth…'

* * *

><p>"Amagakure… we're finally here….." Shikamaru commented as they approached the village. The one thing they picked up that was out of place, or rather, missing was the people. There were only about a handful of people walking on each street.<p>

"Where are all the people?" asked Ino.

"Probobly indoors? It's getting dark" responded Choji.

"No…. I don't think that's it. There are no lights coming from the windows… and it is too early to go to bed… anyway we'll investigate later. Let's just find the communications centre and send a message back that we've arrived. Then let's find a place to stay for the night and we'll start tomorrow morning"

"Hopefully they have nice baths here!" that swamp surrounding the village was gross!" said Ino.

"And good food too!"

* * *

><p>"I'm home!" Konahamaru's voice echoed in the kitchen as he dropped the groceries on the table. He already went past the living room but Hanabi wasn't there, just a half done scarf and a few knitting tools. He checked every room then finally upstairs to their bedroom. The rocking chair next to the window where she usually occupied was empty.<p>

He took out the old white rose from the see through vase next to their bed and placed the fresh sunflower that he just bought. The vase was sitting on a folded letter with his name on it, he lifted the vase up and picked up the letter.

Already he could tell something was wrong, that wasn't Hanabi's handwriting. He was starting to become paranoid differently possibilities streamed his thoughts bringing different kinds of rage in his heart. It him a moment to gather himself then unfolded the letter.

There was no moment of hesitation in his actions. He dropped the letter and rushed outside the house.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Everything felt grey and cut-off. The usual cheerful faces that greeted Konohamaru whenever he passes by didn't mean anything anymore. They were just old faces that didn't matter to Konohamaru as he ran as fast as he can with worry and dread hanging over his face. A tear managed to escape the corner of his eyes and ran down his cheeks along with all the sweat. He figured that he would get to his destination faster if he travelled above, Konohamaru jumped on a hut and using that slight flex on the cloth to boost his jump. From the rooftop he could see the general hospital in the distance. He molded charka beneath his feet to give him better traction which in turn would give him more speed.

'Hanabi….. Hang on…' Konohamaru wished with another tear escaping him. He busted through the front doors disturbing the peaceful hospital lobby. All eyes turned on him with a curious look. After all it is not every day you get to see these kind of things, especially in these peaceful days. The hospital was not as busy as it used to be.

Konohamaru immediately made his way towards the desk. The nurse behind seemed to be too shocked to answer his questions so picked up the patients list. He ran his finger down the list until he came to the ones starting with the letter 'S'.

"Sarutobi…Sarutobi….. There! Room 103!" Konohamaru turned the corner and ran as fast as he can to the room leaving only dust in his trail. Despite all his efforts it seemed he was too late. Naruto, Kakashi and Kurenai were standing at the door looking gloomy.

"Naruto-nii-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Auntie Kurenai! How's….How's Hanabi doing?..." There was no point for Konohamaru to rush, the worst came to worst already.

"….You probably should let her cool down before you enter….."Kakashi said.

"It's only right for the husband to be there for his wife…." Said Kurenai.

"…..Even I made it on time when Hinata was giving birth…." Said Naruto.

All three were surprised at the state Konohamaru was in after they gave their lectures. He was cuddling himself on the floor facing the wall repeatedly muttering to himself. 'I'm a horrible husband…..I'm a horrible father….'

The door of the room opened then Shizune and Sakura exited with a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness she calmed down….. She was throwing all of stuff across the room….." Shizune said to everyone but in particular to her husband whom she rested her tired figure on.

"It's a boy!" Sakura cheerfully announced. "Go on Konohamaru-kun, go meet your child!"

"….She'll kill me…."

"Don't worry we put away everything with a sharp edge!" Sakura said while pulling the man drowning in self-pity "…You'll only make things worse…..Go!" Sakrua said as he pushed the insecure Konohamaru into the room.

To Konohamaru's surprise, it look more peaceful than expected. Though the room was a little untidy, there was a heavenly feeling about it especially at the far end of the room where Hanabi was laying a bed next to a window. Her face looked exhausted but she had a smile that could reach the heavens as she stroke her new baby boy's chin. Even though she looked like she forgot about her rage, Konohamaru still took precaution as he approached.

He approached close enough to see the huge bubbly eyes on the baby boy. Those same bubbly eyes turned on him and stared at him in wonder.

"That would be your idiot father" Hanabi said gently to her baby boy.

"…Hanabi….. You're so mean…..I was doing the groceries for you! I even bought fresh flowers for you!"

"You forgot to mention you smoked a little too….." Hanabi said coldly with her byakugan activated. "I could see it in your pocket!"

"…...He has your eyes!" Konohamaru said as he got closer to touch his first born for the first time. He extended his index finger to stroke his baby's chin but the baby wrapped its tiny fingers around it. Konohamaru's heart melted at the touch.

"Good! We can both watch you on your stupidity!" said Hanab still sulking that she couldn't hold her husband's hand while she was bearing the pain of child birth. "…for what it's worth, he has your hair…."

"Excellent! He'll be a heartrob when he grows up just like his father!"

"…..You're a goof…."

"(Gasp) He's beautiful!" said Satomi who entered with everyone who was waiting outside with the addition HInata, Himawari and Shiroku who looked as bored as ever. "What's his name?"

Hanabi and Konohamaru caught each other's gaze. They already have a string off names they listed for either boy or girl but they were in decisive on which one to pick but at that instant they finally agreed to one name and both chorused it. "Akimatsu"

"…..Couldn't you pick a more boring name?" said Shiroku. Konohamaru jumped at his friend and got him in a head lock. At the same time Udon came in to the room and requested for Naruto's presence.

"Damn you little brat! When you get a kid of your own I'll step all over it!" One could wonder if Konohamaru was being serious. His head lock was so tight that Shiroku couldn't even gasp for a small inhale of oxygen.

"Uh… Konohamaru-nii-san….. Shiroku is turning purple….." said Satomi.

Just outside the room Udon told Naruto the message they got from Shikamaru's operation.

"We've received a telegraph from team Shikamaru. They've arrived at Amagakure ad are settling in for the night"

"I see. We'll give them a week. If they don't make it back in time we're coming in to get them"

* * *

><p>"Okay here's the plan" Shikamaru gathered his companions around the table while drinking their morning tea. They slept well last night there was no noise mainly on the fact nobody was drinking in the inn downstairs, not that there was anyone to have a drink anyways. "Ino, you go back to the telegraph office and see if they have records of any kinds of distress calls from the village. Choji ask around the village, see if you can get anything from the bleak villagers."<p>

"What will you do Shikamaru?" asked Choji.

"I'll say hi to an old friend of ours, 'Takeshi the tamer'. Assuming he's still the leader of this place. Last time I heard from him was five years ago".

Shikamaru was the first to leave. It wasn't a brainer where the leader would be staying, at the biggest building at the centre of this village. And while walking through the streets, there was a strange feeling that sent shivers down his spine. There was a strange aura in the place that he couldn't understand. Even the plants were all dried up and dead.

He expected some officials to greet him at the doorstep but it seemed he was to open the door for himself. It was like opening the door to an abandoned old church, the door hinges creaked that scared the scattering mice. Even though there was no sign of anyone in the room but he could the quiet and secluded person in the shadows.

"I love what you've done with the place. Very…quiet…" said Shikamaru.

"Well…..I wasn't expecting guests today…" said a husky voice. Takeshi stepped out from the shadows. He looked younger for a man in his early forties. His black slick hair was all waxed and collected to a pointy tip at the back of his head and with those sharp eyes of his, one could mistake this man for a bird, especially all the feathery yellow and green that he wears. "I presume this is not a casual visit…."

"Ah….. Already…. straight to the point as usual but the fact of the matter is, yes. I received reports that your guys was on patrol when 'it' happened. And we found a girl who might be a citizen of the rain"

"A survivor? I heard reports that there was no one left!"

"Here's a picture of her" Shikamaru walked towards him and handed a picture of Aomika in combat. "There was nothing different about her until he found out that she can use all six of the chakra elements. There was no sign of anything unless she is in combat, her chakra feels different…. Like there were thousands of souls screaming and…... her memories are blank… that alone is suspicious. Your patrol was supposed to be in the vicinity when 'it' happened. Within the five kilometres radius of the affected areas there was no sign of the bodies. And I didn't want to believe it at first but I saw the same thing with the plants here and with the village. I thought we already decided that 'that jutsu' is forbidden!"

"Are you accusing me for treason?"

"There's more…. I could hear the thousand screaming souls from your chakra right now!"

It was easy for Shkamaru to bind Takeshi with his shadow since the whole room was dark. Takeshi simply laughed at his paralyzed state.

"And this is why all of you are weak! There cannot be gain without any sacrifices! You know if you wanted to capture me, you should have brought your two friends! I've got eyes in the skies!"

"Don't worry, I knew you were watching us! Now Choji! Ino!" Choji came from underneath and bear hugged Takeshi so Shikamaru could save his chakra. Ino came from above and unrolled a scroll and a paint brush in her hand. She learnt a sealing technique from Sai where the victim get turned into a drawing and sealed in a scroll.

"Sage mode! Phoenix!" Takeshi roared as his whole body lit up. Choji's massive hands were badly burned with just a few moments of touch. And with the self-emitting light from the fire, any shadow around Takeshi disappeared. His nose appeared slightly longer to look more like a beak and his eyes turned like an eagle. As for the rest of his features, they were all just a silhouette of a man in flames.

"Ino! Be careful!" Shikamaru called out as Ino continued to glide down. The scroll surrounded Takeshi now but just burnt to crisp as it got to close to the fire. Shikamaru was basically useless as he can't use his shadow against a light and Choji was on the ground suffering from burns.

"Go Shikamaru! Naruto needs to know! I'll buy you time!" Said Ino as she prepared a paralysing technique where she stops the nervous connections of the brain to the rest of the body with her chakra.

"I'm not leaving you and Choji behind!"

"Good! The more the merrier!" said Takeshi. "Sage Art: Nightingale song!"

All Takeshi had to do was open his mouth and a power genjutsu song came out that reached the ears of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. Like life escaped their bodies, their eyes went blank and their mind continued to doze until it fell asleep under the powerful song in their head.

"Once your mind falls asleep. I can rewrite it to anything I want but let's start with this. Shikamaru, Ino and Choji you have no past, you have no future, you only work for me!"

"Yes! Master!"

* * *

><p>Something startled Shikadai. It could be the starving stomach or a bad omen but he leaned towards the stomach after he heard ChoCho's crumble as well.<p>

"Was that an earthquake?" Shikadai asked with an evil grin.

"Well whose idea was it too hides under this tree for a week! And Inojin has been sleeping this whole time!"

"Ok! I admit not the best idea but who cares it worked!"

There was heavy footsteps just above on the mud surrounding their big tree. It has been raining heavily the past couple of days that some of the mud managed to find their way in to their little hide out. Freaking out was putting it lightly on how ChoCho reacted, especially when they found their food supplies covered in mud one morning.

There was a boy from another team that drop in holding an earth's scroll. The whole time the three of them was sitting in there while Inojin sent out his little mice drawing to scout for an earth scroll. Once they found one Inojin and Shikadai went out to mind transfer into the carrier then Shikadai carried Inojin's body back to Headquarters. The boy standing before the was Inojin in its body.

"Good job Inojin! Now let's get to that tower…. We're probably the last ones….. but who cares a pass is a pass!" said Shikadai.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

"Is Aomika alright?" asked Bolt to Sarada as he approached her. They got it first thing in the morning on the second day so they practically had six whole days to burn while waiting for the exams to finish. First of all they had they injuries checked out. Whether major or minor they were all patched up. Bolt should have had his right shoulder heavily bandaged and his arm on a sling but instead he just had his jacket and shirt replaced. Sarada for the first couple of days lay in bed with a concussion while Aomika didn't suffer anything but there was something wrong with her, she was all gloomy and just sat by herself without speaking a word by herself.

Bolt and Sarada thought that she was probably just traumatised from her kidnapping so they gave her some space but impatience got the better of them so they argued and in the end played rock paper scissors to decide who was going to talk to her. Bolt lost and had to receive Aomika's grumpy mood in the face.

"Are you ok Aomika?"

"Yes"

"Are you sure?"

"I said I'm fine! Are you deaf?!"

"Alright! I heard you the first time!"

Thank goodness for Bolt there was nobody there to witness his embarrassment. The majority of the students were still competing in the forest outside.

"Ouch!" commented Sarada to the almost teary Bolt. "It's ok to cry Bolt. I won't laugh…."

"I'm not crying!"

"…. I didn't say you were… and besides I said I wouldn't laugh…."

"I'm not falling for it Sarada! I'm not an idiot you know!"

"Of course not, because an idiot would totally not make a big deal of it…."

"What's up with you? Why do you always tease me?"

"….becuase it's fun?"

"Well, have fun by yourself!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Even though Sarada technically won their little teasing, she felt sad that she was left alone in the room set for the three of them with a grumpy Aomika. The door slammed closed as Bolt left with a grudge. Sarada was known to be the silent type, but there was an inner part of her that thrived the attention and mischiefs like Bolt. For example, Aomika was sitting on the window frame next to a wide open window four stories off the ground. With just one small nudge and she would fall through but that would be mean Sarada thought. Instead she approached her like Bolt but didn't talk to her until it felt too awkward that it disturbed Aomika's gaze.

"You can talk to me" Sarada said. Aomika acknowledged her friends offer and gave her a smile then continued to stare out. "What did those goons want with you anyway? I fought against them myself and I was knocked out in seconds. I know your strong… but against six of those guys… at least you should have suffered a scratch. Which got me to my conclusion, they did something to you. I saw the layout on the ground; it was some kind of ceremonial jutsu. So don't say you're fine cause I don't believe it!"

There was awkward silence between the two friends once more. Sarada continued her provoking stare while Aomika tried to ignore it as much as possible.

"You'll stop at nothing will you?" asked Aomika.

"Yup!"

"….you're right….I'm not well…. Well not mentally anyways….." Aomika hoped to stop there but Sarada was daring her to go on with her daring stare. "I…. I keep having these dreams….. horrible dreams…. But they feel too real. I'm so confused whether I should trust them or not….."

"What were you dreaming of?"

"…maybe some other time. But thank you for provoking me! That felt good to left off my chest!"

Sarada was still not content. She felt that Aomika was still withholding important information but she realised she probably pushed her too much already. Perhaps some other time like Aomika said she thought.

There was a loud bump in the hallway that echoed throughout the rooms. Then there was the loud complaining voice of Bolt.

"What the hell bushy brows! That hurted!" Bolt said while grasping the small bump on his forehead.

"I'm sorry Bolt-kun! But I must hurry!"

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Bolt demanded but only choked on the dust that Junior left behind.

"Probably visiting his 'girlfriend'" Akio said while quoting with his fingers as he said girlfriend. "The guy could not sleep. He was so eager to get a heavens scroll! Trust me, we haven't slept for two nights!"

"Thank goodness we ran into some weaklings…" Emi said in a crusty and creepy voice. Her exhausted look looked very haunting that turned both Bolt and Akio white.

"…I think we should go rest now…. Especially you Emi…" said Akio.

The peaceful atmosphere in the clinic was disturbed when junior pushed the door open with force. Already there was a kunei resting under his throat held by Yuki who snuck behind him and Jiro was standing in front of him ready to put an arrow through his head.

"Oh! Lee-kun!" Yuki said as he recognised the friendly face. "Sorry, old habits!"

"Sorry Lee, we were trained to protect Chiyoko-sama" said Jiro. "You're here to see her I presume?"

Junior was unsure considering he wasn't in any position to make demands but he must speak his mind. "Yes! I'm here to see her!"

"HAHA! There's no need to be so tense!" said Jiro. "She's been wanting to see you too!"

Both Yuki and Jiro dropped their guard and pointed towards a row of curtains.

"She's behind there" they both chorused then went back to the things they were doing.

Junior approached the curtains nervously. He just learnt that Chiyoko was royalty from the way Jiro and Yuki addressed and from the way they reacted to protect her. He took a deep breathe to gather his confidence but it turned out it wasn't enough. Then a soft and kind voice spoke that melted his fears away.

"Lee-kun? Is that you?" Chiyoko said from behind the curtains.

"Yes! My lady! I just wanted to know if you're alright! I shall be going now! Sorry to bother you!" Junior said in a polite manner shyly.

"No! Wait! Come, I want to speak with you-Ow!" Chiyoko's voice randomly went higher pitch than normal then quickly grabbed her side as she strained her recovering ribs from stress of speaking to loudly.

"Chiyoko-sama!" Junior wasn't thinking that time and pulled the curtain and entered. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah…I'm fine… I'm afraid I'll be out of action for a while though…..and please just call me Chiyoko"

"I'm sorry I can't do that! It is customary for a simpleton like to address those of royalty properly!"

"Well I hearby order you to stop calling me that!... please….."

"As you wish!... my lady….."

Chiyoko was holding it in for a while now but she just busted into a soft and gentle giggle like what you would expect for a lady to act. Then all of a sudden the inner self took over the practiced manners and she busted in laughter.

"I'm sorry Lee-kun! It's just… you look like a tomato… you're blushing too much!"

Junior freaked and was all over his face trying to find a way to cool down his face.

"No!No! It's ok!" Chiyoko said. "It's cute!"

At midday on the last day of the second test, all the five groups who had successfully gathered both scrolls where ordered get themselves sorted out as they would be sent home that afternoon. All that was left to do was wait for the sixth and last group. There was a chance that the sixth wasn't going to make it as they might have gotten killed not necessarily by other students but by the beasts living in the forest.

"…Shikadai's group is still out there…" Bolt said to no one in particular. All the groups were gathered in the lobby and the whole time Sarada watched with gritted teeth as the two teams from the village of rain were gathered in the opposite of corner of the room. They were looking back at her direction but not at her but rather Aomika who was staring back and standing beside her.

"Meh, don't get your expectations up Bolt" said Akio as he caressed the toothpick with his teeth in his mouth. "They probably quitted on the first chance they got"

"…..why do you always suck on toothpicks…" asked Bolt.

"…I don't know….. just something I picked up from my father I guess…."

Talking about fathers hit Bolt deep. It got him thinking whether his own father would be waiting at the academy when they return from their test to congratulate him or would it be his mother and Himawari as usual. He hoped that he would be there but past experiences had taught him to not get his hopes up.

It wasn't long before the doors opened for the final team to successfully finish the second test to open. Before the glaring sunlight that flooded through the doorway was Shikadai's team looking filthy like they bathed in a pool of mud the whole time.

"Finally I get to have a bath!" said ChoCho. "You have no idea what it's like spending the past seven days with these stinky pigs!"

"Speak for yourself!" said Inojin. "If anything you almost got us killed for eating all the food! Pig!"

"Okay! That's enough!" Kiba puffed in the middle of the room out of nowhere. "It must have been a long seven days for some of you…." He said while looking at Shikadai's team. "But all of you have done well to get to this point so let's get you home! Release!"

After saying release, the seals on every scroll puffed and disappeared. "Now open the scrolls simultaneously and you should be transported back to the academy.

It was a busy day at the hokage office. There were a lot of papers Naruto had to go through and without Shikamaru's assistance; it was twice the work for him. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he said he wanted to be hokage. He back was hurting from the whole morning of sitting down and stamping papers with his hokage seal. He even glared at Udon and Moegi who came in to only bring in more paperwork then quickly disappeared from his death glare field of vision.

Then all his stress and problems lifted at the sight of his wife's smiling face as she walked in to the room. Then he felt like in heaven at the sight of his daughter's huge grin as he rushed in with a huge "Papa!" greeting.

"Hey! What are you guys doing here!" Naruto got out of his seat and picked up his daughter.

"Well, Bolt would be finished with the second exam this afternoon dear!" said HInata who snuck a glance at all the paperwork on Naruto's desk.

"We should all be there to greet big brother papa!" said Himawari in a very adorable manner that could bend the strongest ninja it the world's decision.

"Well…. I've got a lot of work-!" Naruto felt chills as he saw Hinata's piercing glare. He figured out her little scheme to use HImwari to get him to come, and it worked. "Alright Himawari. Let's all go!"

Naruto sighed a sigh of relief at the sight of Hinata smiling again. As they were walking out of the room as a family, Naruto leaned in on HInata and gave a very quiet whisper.

"You're an evil mastermind…"

"(Sigh)… This is why I want you to stop wandering and find a legit job!" said Sakura who paid because husband couldn't pay for their lunch. "Just ask Naruto, I'm sure he'll find something for you!"

"NO! I refuse to work for him!" said Sasuke stubbornly. There now finished their little 'date' and were on their way to the academy to greet Sarada. "Besides you're doing fine being the head medical officer anway….."

"Well….. We're not going on anymore 'dates' unless you promise to pay for it next time…." Sakura teased. Sasuke bit his lip and panicked and Sakura giggled at the sight of that. "And we'll get to eat together as a family every night if you worked here!"

"… I would love that….. but I have important business to do…"

"More important than your family?!"

Again Sasuke was provoked by Sakura without a way out to get himself out of it. Sasuke quickly escaped form Sakura and walked up to an ice cream stand on the side. Sakura just watched with a 'What on earth are you doing?' look on her face. The next thing she knew Sasuke was holding a cone with mountainous amount of ice cream on it.

"…..Really?... You really think ice cream would work?" asked Sakura. Sasuke responded with a simple nod as he took a lick on his own cone of ice cream.

Everyone was met with a family member if not their close friends. Both Sarada and Bolt were happily surprised that their fathers made an appearance. Despite their best efforts to hide their joy, it was too obvious. Akio had his mother, Hana waiting for him along with Inojin, ChoCho and Emi who reunited with a parent waiting for them. Shikadai had the whole team from the sand with him and his mother including their Jonin instructor Kankuro. It was cute too watch how Chiyoko and Lee junior made people wait just so they could say good bye to each other….. it's not like they won't see each other again….

As for Aomika she was just watching with envy from the side as each of her friends waled away bragging about their adventures to their loved ones. Well…. There was a family member waiting for Aomika. She was standing in the shadows waiting for everyone to leave before she makes an appearance.

"You can come out now Megumi….." Aomika wasn't looking at her but the phrase was directed at her older sister was a seventeen year old jonin instructor for one of the team from the village of rain.

"Ah you remember me Asami! Seems like the guys got the job done!"

"Looks like all is prepared for phase two of the plan" said another voice from the shadows. Asami found him very mysterious especially the fact that he won't take off his dark shades. He came to their village five years ago and her father was pleased by the skills he demonstrated which she had witnessed herself. He was the same guy that Shiroku and Satomi saw with Megumi when they were 'on a date' at the tea house. He was the other jonin instructor and from Asami's perspective, there was something going on between him and her sister.

"…Yes…..I'm ready for phase two…" Even though Asami just told Sarada that she didn't believe her dreams, she knew for a fact that they were real but she in sight of this whole scheme might not be the same as before, especially when he made precious friends that she grew to respect.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

It was a week later after the second chunin exams and the final exam which will be a tournament will be held next week. Everyone in the village was looking forward to see the exceptional talents in this year's exam including Naruto himself. But unfortunately for him, he needed to leave to go on an important 'business trip'. On the last night before he needed to leave the next morning, he was standing next to his son's bed watching his first born doze in the quiet of the night with sadness. He thought he was barely there for him and unfortunately, he won't be there on one of the most important highlight of his young life.

"Naruto….." Hinata said coming from the doorway. There was nothing to happen in this house that she wouldn't know about. It wasn't just because of the byaakugan that she poses but also the fact that she can see right through Naruto. She knew the sadness in his heart when the news came that Shikamaru hasn't returned yet. And that it would mean that he would have to leave and miss his son's chunin graduation.

"I feel like if I miss this… Then I would lose him…." Said Naruto sadly. "I feel like I will fail as his father…..What do I do Hinata?"

"Well…..I guess you'll just have to make it back in time!" said Hinata as she came closer to her husband and rested her head on his shoulders. Together they both watched the quietly snoring Bolt but Hinata knew all too well that the kid was acting. "So why don't we go back to sleep with me now and get an earlier start tomorrow?"

"Yeah…..you're right. The earlier I start, the earlier I'll finish and get back in time… But I would still rather look him in the eye and promise that I will be there instead of just crossing my fingers…" said Naruto.

"Well… then promise you'll be there. You never back down on your words right?"

Hinata was right Naruto thought. He was too over whelmed by his doubt that he forgot to have trust in himself. There were many instances before were gave his word to do the not probable and he's always pulled through and keep his word. This wasn't any different.

"Alright. Bolt…. If you could hear me….. From now own I will always make time for you and my family. That's a promise of a lifetime"

Silently both Naruto and Hinata retreated in to their bedroom. Once they were settled, Hinata wrapped an arm across Naruto and whispered into his ear.

"He was awake you know. He heard your every word"

"…..You really are evil…"

* * *

><p>The next morning<p>

"Where are you going papa?" Sarada asked her father who seemed to jump at the sound her voice.

"…..You're up already?..."

"I usually get up this early…." Sarada made it a point to wake up early in the morning to catch one last glimpse of her father whenever he leaves to one of his wanderings. Of course Sasuke wouldn't know since he was always away.

"…..I see…." Sasuke said. He gestured for Sarada to come closer to him. Sarada was confused but went ahead anyways and was startled to what her father did. As she was walking towards him, Sasuke stopped Sarada in her tracks and poked her on the forehead. She would often her father to it to her mother but she didn't realize it actually hurts a bit. She fell back couple of steps while rubbing her forehead.

"…Ow…." Even though she expressed that she was hurt, her father was just smiling at her and in the end it wasn't too bad she thought.

"Take care of your mother Sarada" Sasuke said as a good bye before leaving. As he turned around, it was his turn to be stopped in his motion. Sarada grabbed his left sleeve which where he lost an arm. He turned around to see what it was she wanted but instead she looked like about to cry.

"What is it Sarada?"

"Why do you always have to leave?!"

Sasuke knelt down to look at his daughter straight in to the eyes. "Just know that whatever I do, I do it for my family"

He didn't want her to get involved in this matter but she didn't look content at the answer he gave her. In fact she so unhappy that she asked the next question:

"Can I come with you?"

It was a question that he least expected. Or maybe just the question that he feared most to come from his daughter. There was a moment of silence as he thought of a good excuse or perhaps change the topic.

"I'm sorry Sarada…..maybe next time…." He wasn't one to show any emotions but it destroyed his heart to see Sarada heart broken. "…your final chunin exam is coming up right?"

Sarada nodded.

"I'll make you a deal. If you stay here and look after your mom for a little while then I promise I'll be there when you graduate"

"Deal" Sarada said.

* * *

><p>Naruto reached the gates without much attention. Partly because it was way before everyone's rising time and partly because he wasn't wearing he didn't bring his usual escorts that attract too much attention. And he didn't bring his hokage hat. He has made all the necessary arrangements; he got Kakashi to act as Hokage while he was gone. Originally he asked Sasuke to do the part but strangely enough he declined the chance of being hokage for some 'important' business he said.<p>

The gate keepers greeting him a safe journey and one last time asked he didn't really need any escorts.

"Don't worry about me! Besides I missed this kind of stuff!" he reassured the two young guys stationed there.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto never felt so free without the restriction of a four-sided room and a desk full of paper work. Just thinking about it exhausted him and besides, a little exercise was needed once in a while. He has been feeling he has been getting out of shape lately, especially around the waist area. He slapped the slight bump on his stomach and said.

"It's to work you off!"

About a half hour worth of walking, there was a dark shaded figure resting under the shade of a tree. There was a familiar feeling about him that Naruto liked and got on his nerves at the same time.

"I thought you had 'important' business to attend to" said Naruto. He stopped and sat on the opposite side of the tree.

"Did you really think I'd sit in that office while you have all the fun?" Sasuke replied. "Besides who's going to take after an idiot like you?... Don't get the wrong idea…"

"Well, I'll get going then. You can tag along or sit under that nice shade but I made a promise and I'm going to keep it"

"You're not the only one who made a promise…"

It was a three day travel at a bit faster than normal travelling speed with frequent breaks of about twice a day. When the village of rain was in their sights, Sasuke gestured Naruto to halt for a moment. He explained the strange feeling he was getting towards the village of rain was the same feeling he felt towards the small town in the border.

"Looks like Shikamaru and squad found out something and are now being held prisoners or worse…." Said Sasuke. He noticed that Naruto got a bit impatient once he mentioned 'or worse'. "Naruto….. we must be prepared for the worst when it comes to that"

"I know…What's the plan?"

"We separate. You go occupy the leader while I search around for answers."

"What about Shikamaru and everyone?!" said Naruto.

"Our first priority is to prevent another crisis from happening! We'll rescue them after if we can" said Sasuke.

"I refuse to just do nothing when they could be suffering!"

"Fine! Do what you want!" Sasuke has had enough of that conversation and went on ahead. It didn't matter if Naruto personally went to the leader of not. Being the hokage will attract attention and at the end of the day, Naruto will be their distraction Sasuke thought.

Moments later Naruto arrived at the Village muttering:

"Stupid Sasuke…"

But as he saw the village bigger concerns arose to his mind like where's all the people and what is this 'dead feeling about the place. He walked around looking for someone, anyone to ask if they might have seen his friends but all he could find were closed shops or he would find someone but they would be to terrified to talk.

'(sigh)… This is harder than I thought…' he thought then he thought further. 'If I were them where would be the first place I would go? A place to stay of course!'

Naruto continued to walk around in search of an inn since no one was brave enough to tell him anything. Most of them were closed but a little later he found one with an open sign at the front. He walked in to what looked like a bar with stairs in the back that probably led up to the rooms. There was nobody on the desk but there was a bell so Naruto tapped on it and waited.

A pair of footsteps was to be heard around the corner and before long a man appeared with shades of grey on his hair.

"Welcome" the man said neither enthusiastically nor apathetically.

"Um…. I'm looking for my friends" Naruto gave him a decent description of Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. In the end he got a nod of understanding which was a sigh of relief.

The man led him upstairs and gestured to a room. Before Naruto could say thank you, the man quickly scattered away and hurriedly down the stairs.

"Ok…" Naruto muttered but the matters at hand first. He knocked on the door but the door just creaked open in his first knock. He pressed his palm on the wood of the door then pushed it further. The room was tidy, barely used except for the few things lying around that Naruto recognised as his friends' possessions.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a movement around the corner. It didn't look hostile so Naruto wasn't alarmed. When he turned he was delighted to see Shikamaru looking good ad healthy but to his dismay, he found himself strained and couldn't move.

"Shikamaru…What are you doing?!..."

Sasuke swept past the 'dead' village and made for the tallest building in the middle of the town. He didn't use the front entrance instead he made his own by slicing a bit of the wall with his sword. To his convenience he landed in the spot where he wanted to be, the records room.

The records was neatly organised from top to bottom of the shelves with the events in the chronological order of oldest to newest. He traced to the date where 'it' happened but only found spider webs on its place. Suspicion arose but before he could do anything a man spoke.

"It's a long time Sasuke….."

Sasuke turned to the man talking to him.

"Indeed…..Takeshi…."

"I believe you're looking for this" Takeshi raised a scroll with the date Sasuke was looking for. There was no need further words to be exchanged the challenge was already set.

"I'll say this only once. Hand over the scroll now" Sasuke said as he drew his sword.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

It was a nice sunny day that morning, one week before the final chunin exams. Inojin was up early to deliver the flower orders due that afternoon. He thought he'd just drop them off at their doorstep so he could get an early start on his training. Carrying all the goods on his back was part of his strength and agility training. He picked up this trick while watching junior run in the streets of Konoha carrying a huge boulder on his back. It was an effective training Inojin thought but attracted too much attention, this way people would just bypass him as an ordinary delivery boy instead of a weirdo. It would be perfect timing as well. By the time he would be finished, Shikadai should already be awake or close to waking up at least. Then the two of them could play some chess for strategy training.

"Man….. This is getting troublesome…" Shikadai said after winning a close against Inojin. "…You just get better after each game…."

"Want to play another?" asked Inojin as he set up the chess pieces for another game.

"I think I've had enough for one day…."

"Ok…" Inojin said sensing Shikadai dodging the embrassment of defeat. He then picked up a glass of iced juice that Temari left by their game earlier for refreshments. "This doesn't taste as good as it looks….. At least better than my mom's anyways….."

"Idiot! Don't talk out loud like that when my mom's around!" Shikadai said as he jumped and pressed his palm on Inojin's mouth. "You really need to learn to filter your words my friend…"

"OK. What is this thing made out of anyways?" Inojin asked as he drank the rest of the cold drink.

"Deer pee" Shikadai said with no expressions while looking and waiting for his friend's reaction. Inojin froze and went pale, though it wasn't as noticeable since he already has natural pale skin but Shikadai has been friends with the boy practically since birth. He knew everything about him and would immediately be able to tell if something is different. "HAHA! I'm just kidding!"

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon, Bolt snuck out of his auntie Hanabi's house when they went to visit their newly born cousin. He asked his uncle Konohamaru for some training supervision but he was declined. Konohamaru was still in cloud nine after being a first time father a week ago.<p>

"Tch! What an idiot!" Bolt said in contempt as he was walking through the streets with hands in pockets. "How am I suppose to finish my rasengan if my mentors don't give a crap?!"

What pissed Bolt more was the occasional whispers of 'Oh look, it's the hokage's son'. Even though there was probably no harm done, Bolt didn't like being labelled as the 'hokage's son'. He wanted to prove that he can stand toe to toe with his father and perhaps earn a name for himself as well.

Perhaps it was the happiest day in Bolt's life when the second exam finished. First of all his father was there to give him a pat on the back and personally tell him 'good job'. But the most exciting bit was a couple of days after when he was fully recovered from his 'minor' injuries, him and Naruto went hiking just the two of them for some father son bonding time.

During this hiking trip, Naruto led Bolt to a clearing then introduced his son to a technique called the 'rasengan'. At first Bolt looked disinterested, he even went and expressed it by saying 'What a lame name! Probobly a horrible technique!'. But after Naruto demonstrated what it can do to an innocent boulder nearby, Bolt's opinion was immediately flipped.

"There are three parts in to learning this technique!" Naruto told his surprisingly more than usual attentive son. "Rotation, Power and stability" Naruto said as he counted each one with his fingers.

"First, burst the water the balloons that we brought along by rotating the water inside. Second burst the rubber balls the same way you would with the water balloons only this will be harder. Third, combine the first two steps but we'll worry about that later on"

Bolt successfully completed the first two steps of the training within the week. Even though he was often criticised as being 'dumb', Bolt was just slow to start with because he just didn't care but once he gets hyped up and gets things going, he was as good as anybody. During this rasengan training, he proved that the 'labellers' were wrong. But sadly all good things must come to an end as a messenger came and fetched them with an urgent message.

Bolt didn't know the details, he couldn't care less anyway. All he knew was his training was ruined but he picked up a few things of concern. Something about Shikamaru and a week's time is up. Before he knew it, he was wandering in the streets of konoha without a teacher.

It was mid-afternoon and he found himself in a training ground. He punched angrily at one of the thick wood slabs. "Dammit! Dammit!"

After having his dramatic moment, Bolt got himself together and decided that he'd be better off trying by himself than sulking over the matter. He opened his right palm and with is left, he stroke swiftly to contain the formation but once it reached the proper shape. Whenever he would release his left hand to hold it in one hand like his father, he loses the rasegan ball.

He tried for the rest of the afternoon but was unsuccessful. On his final attempt he decided he was going to do it this time. When he felt he was about to lose it, he swung his right arm in frustration. To his surprise the rasengan didn't disperse in to air but instead followed his arm's motion to cut down all three of the wooden slumps. Bolt froze at the sight of what his has done and only then the rasengan dispersed.

It was like swinging a bucket of water around, using the momentum to hold the water together. But to Sarada who was unfortunate enough to be hiding behind one of the stumps but lucky enough to save her neck, it was a weapon of death.

"Sarada? What are you doing here?" Bolt asked as he got over himself then finally realised he almost killed someone.

"N-Nothing!" Sarada said as he stood up and put her glasses on properly. "I just happen to be around…I-I wasn't following you or anything…."

"Hey I've got a brilliant idea!" Bolt announced. "Why don't we train together?!"

"Uh….no thanks… I don't want to make you cry…." Sarada said in sarcasm but what she really meant was 'I don't want to be 'accidentally' killed, thank you very much…'

"hmmph! You're just as bad as everyone! You're also an idiot!"

"…Save it for later Bolt…We'll settle this at the tournament in a week. Just don't cry when I embarrass you in front of the whole village!" Sarada said as she was about to leave but what she really meant was 'I need to train more… I might get embrassed….'

"What did you say Sarada?!" raged Bolt but his friend was already running away waving a good bye to him.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

It was a seamless act for Sasuke now. Raising his sword to point at his opponent then a lightning bolt would jolt from the tip. Although it was a smaller scale than a real lightning bolt, it was just as strong but Takeshi also smoothly dodged the attack. His figure buffered and blurred then the lightning bolt just stroke past through his chest without inflicting damage. It was a great defensive technique but it had one weakness, it immobilizes the user and Sasuke took advantage of that. Sasuke circled around him in a split second and was a about to run Takeshi through but Takeshi reached around and caught the blade. Of course, Sasuke predicted that his opponent was good enough to do that so he had a backup plan. Once Takeshi's hand made contact with the blade, Sasuke ran chidori on it once more and completely fried his opponent.

"Sweet move! But not enough to kill me" Takeshi called out from behind Sasuke. That surprised Sasuke, he was sure that he killed a real body not a shadow clone but there was Takeshi looking alive and healthy and the body on the end of his sword was still and didn't puff like a shadow clone. "You seem to be puzzled by this?"

Sasuke found the last question irritating and unleashed the amaterasu flames on the man he was looking at. It all looked different with the sharingan activated. He could see Takeshi morphed out of the doomed body before it lit up and died. What was weird about it was again, it was not a clone but another real body. Sasuke's patience was running short and this time he used the power of his rinnegan and pulled Takeshi towards him.

He caught the man around the throat and placed his blade just underneath Takeshi's chin using his chakra to control the sword. "Enough of your tricks! I need some answers!"

"You're not really in the position to ask that question!"

In an instant Takeshi's body engulfed in flames but not of the amaterasu but his very own phoenix sage mode. Then, there was an explosion and Sasuke was ejected backwards and through the stone wall along with a few burning book cases. Sasuke gathered chakra underneath his feet then planted himself on the ground, preventing himself from skidding any further.

There was now a massive hole from the building with heavy smoke emitting through the hole. Takeshi stood in the middle of the made hole with live flames surrounding his entire body. This time Sasuke noticed the flames on Takeshi's back forming what looked like wings. It was no brainer that Takeshi was getting ready for the next attack but Sasuke's body wasn't ready, or more accurately, unable to function any further.

Sasuke's whole right side where bleeding from extensive burns. He could barely move his right leg and lost all feeling on his right arm. He looked up once more to the figure in the smoke and he saw that the wings were complete. 'I need to end this quick… Or I'll pass out from blood loss….' Sasuke thought. Without hesitation, he activated his mangekyo sharingan and the susanoo armour. This was a risk, Susasnoo consumes the user's life force and damages their body as the battle prolongs but Sasuke has mastered the technique and can contain the susanoo with his own chakra reservoir instead.

Immediately, a huge purple humanoid armour surrounded Sasuke that rivalled the height of the tallest building structure in the village. His susanoo looked like a samurai with its secondary sets of arms as wings and wielded two katanas with its other pair.

"So this is the legendary susanoo…" Takeshi said as he marvelled at the amazing power in front of him. "I guess I am out classed…..but why don't you pick on someone your own size?! Summoning jutsu!"

It started with a small whirlwind of fire then grew into a massive bird. First, revealing its fiery eyes then its wings spreaded out and a wall of fire spreaded out with it in a circle. The massive bird in flames hovered above Sasuke's susanoo.

"I see….Now I understand why they called you Takeshi the tamer….." Sasuke said scornfully. He wasn't one to back down from any fight but he was clearly outmatched. Especially in the state his body was. "You managed to tame the bird that lived on the shinju tree…"

"Shall we begin?" asked Takeshi.

* * *

><p>"What are you doing Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he tried to move but he was caught in Shikamaru's shadow binding technique. Naruto looked at his friend straight in the eye but he saw no sign of the Shikamaru he knew. Instead it was just a blank soul behind those blank eyes. "Cut the crap Shikamaru! Answer me!" Although Naruto already knew that his friend was gone, he still persisted that he was somewhere in there. There was still no reply the second and that was when Naruto decided he would knock some sense into Shikamaru.<p>

He activated his bijuu sage mode and with just the natural power, he broke free from Shikamaru's bonds. Naruto pushed his right forearm against Shikamaru's throat. He was careful of his strength as he didn't want to break Shikamaru's throat. He asked again. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

This time, there was no answer once again. A pair of huge hands wrapped around Naruto's heels then he was pulled down to the first floor where Ino had prepared a snare marked with kunai's in a circle. The snare was activated when Choji pulled Naruto down into the circle the instantaneously huge scrolls wrapped around Narto's body then tightened.

Naruto looked around at his friends who was joined by Shikamaru soon after he was snared. "Come on guys! It's me, Naruto! I don't want to hurt you!"

Again there was no response, just empty stares aimed at Naruto.

"What hell is going on-dattebayo?!"

There was a huge explosion that shook the whole village. By the sound of it, it was coming from the centre of the village. "Sasuke?" Natuto muttered. Then he easily broke free from the scrolls tehn summoned three shadow clones that immediately dropped Shikamaru, Ino and Choji on the ground and pinned them.

"Make sure they behave! I'll go check out what's happening outside" Naruto ordered his clones who chorused and 'alright' in response.

Naruto smashed through the wooden wall of the inn then tumbled into the streets. It was no brainer where the explosion came from. 'Obliviously where the big fire bird and Sasuke's susanoo was' Naruto thought as he swiftly covered the ground in between to help his friend. He saw that Sasuke's susanoo was crouched on one knee with a circle of flames surrounding him and the fire bird hovering above.

Without thinking, Naruto formed a rasenshuriken with just his right hand then threw it at the bird. His technique hit the target and there was an explosion composed of fire and air. Naruto used the opportunity to land on Sasuke's susanoo's shoulder.

"Can't believe you're letting a bird kick your ass!"

"You fool! Get out of here-" Sasuke struggled to say the last word from physical fatigue. In turn his susanoo wore out and it was just a heavily injured Sasuke lying on the ground cursing his mouth away with the last bits of strength left. Naruto looked around him and it was indeed a trap. The fire circle surrounding Sasuke rose and trapped the two friends in a fire bird cage.

Usually the technique would be released when the user was defeated and that was Naruto intended to do. He formed a couple of clones before storming in blindly. Now he used them to sneak behind Takeshi and at the same time buried a rasenshuriken each on Takeshi's back.

The damage it did was unreparable, destroying everything down to a cellular level. Basically it destroyed every cell in the body that would essentially kill a person which it did. After flailing in the impact, Takeshi's body lost its flame armour and fell out of the sky but to Naruto's surprise, a body morphed out of the dead then engulfed in to flames. Two massive fire wings emerged on its back then shotted out fire feathers towards the two Naruto's still hovering from the previous attack.

The clone was taken out immediately but the real body suffered injuries, even with the bijuu coat around his body. He managed to block most of the damage by crossing his arms in front of him but unfortunately for Naruto the worst of the pain was yet to come. Takeshi already flew next to Naruto then wrapped his burning wings around Naruto.

There was a puff of flames inside the wings then the fight was over. The shadow clone inside the cage with Sasuke disappeared and Naruto was free falling with black smoke following his defeated body. The bijuu coat managed to block some of the damage but wasn't enogh to prevent Naruto's defeat.

'…Dammit…..' Naruto could only wish to say if he wasn't so heavily injured. He was still conscious and was still seeing and aware of his surrounding but unable to respond. Takeshi walked towards Naruto's body then knelt down.

"You must be wondering how?" asked Takeshi. "As a parting gift I will tell you. When a phoenix dies it is reborn again rising from the ashes of its predecessor. So as long as I have enough souls to spare, I can keep rising back again. And yes….. That probably answered your other question as well. I was responsible when 'it' happened as you guys like to refer to it but I like to call it the harvesting."

Takeshi stood up and hauled Naruto next to Sasuke. "Now just stay down and listen. Sage art: Nightingale song!"

* * *

><p>It was the night before the big day for the genins from all over the world. The past week it was loud every night from the noises of all sorts of different training but that night, it was an uncomfortable silence after getting used to all that noise.<p>

Satomi was one of the unfortunate enough to get a mission late. In return she was up at this late hour handing in her report or the day. She visited the tea house which she caught closing down but the owner was kind enough to make her the last tea of the day since she was a regular customer.

Tea definitely does wonders for the body. After the stress of the day, with just one cup of tea she felt as refreshed after waking up from an amazing sleep.

Before retreating for the night, she decided to take the path that takes her around the hills. It was always a great walk there overlooking the hokage faces. When everyone was meant to be in bed, of course there was one person who wouldn't be. She spotted Shiroku sitting on the railings of the track staring at the stars.

"Can't sleep?" Satomi asked as she stared at the stars as well.

"Nah… This exams… brings back memories…."

Satomi sensed the sadness in Shiroku's voice then shuffled closer to him but not too close…

"Mmmm…That was the last time we saw Hachiro….." replied Satomi as she also joined Shiroku in the grieving of their former teammate.

"Hyuuga Hachiro…." Shiroku repeated. "What an idiot"

"Why….because I used to date him?!"

"No…. because he's an idiot….."

Somewhere in the village, a heavily clothed man with dark shades was lying on the rooftop of the inn he was staying in that same starry night.

"Can't sleep?" Megumi asked as she approached her companion.

"Nah…..brings back memories…"

"Don't tell me you've still got a soft side for this village…."

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Good! The plan will proceed tomorrow…as planned. Better get some sleep Hachiro" Megumi said as she went back into her own room.

"I bet that idiot can't sleep as well…" Hachiro smirked as he referenced his best (former) friend.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued…...**

**Will be going on a holiday... So I probs won't be updating this in a while**

**but...Enjoy your holdidays Everyone!**

**Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

The Crowd cheered in the stands as this year's promising rookie's stepped in to the arena in a line to introduce themselves to their viewers.

There were a total of six teams that passed up to this point consisting of three members per team. But only a total of sixteen rookie's were able to suit up that day. One of the injured participants was Chiyoko, Gaara's daughter who was sitting next to her father in the highest stands with Konoha's acting Hokage Kakashi.

"You don't need to be upset Chiyoko" Gaara told his sulking daughter.

"…..I just hate being left behind…."

The other one was the rookie named Haru from the village of rain. His Jonin instructor reported in that he unfortunately felt ill and would not be able to participate.

This year, the stadium was bigger than ever due to the progressing popularity of the chunin exams over the years. The stands were now higher with additional rows of seats. The battle ground size stayed relatively the same but there was now a big screen overhead that posts the ladder and lives fight footage for the people at the back to see.

"Man….. it feels bigger than ever… I could hardly hear my mom with all this noise….." said Shikadai to Inojin as he leaned into his friend's ear. Shikadai was expecting a response but after straining his neck just to be close enough to hear his Inojin's usually quiet voice, he didn't receive what he was expecting. Not even a glance to indicate that his voice was acknowledged. Out of frustration he sent out a soft punch on Inojin's arm just to wake his friend up.

"Oi! Inojin!"

"Oof!" Inojin was snapped back into reality. The reason being, his music was suddenly cut off when his earphones fell out. He quickly picked it up and continued listening to his jam. In the process he caught a glimpse of a frustrated Shikadai and gave him a 'huh' look but his friend just dismissed him.

Along the line of the rookie's, Akio was laughing to himself like a mad man in excitement.

"Huehuehue….. Look at all those people Daisuke. I hope they have enough voice when we put on a show!"

"….The only show you'll be putting on is an embarrassment to yourself…"

"Damn you Emi! You're just jealous because it'll better than watching your boring bugs!"

"Look…..Dog-brain….If you've got a problem with me….If you've got a problem with me, just say it to my face. Keep my bugs out of it!-"

"AHH!" Junior suddenly shouted.

"…What's wrong junior?"asked Akio.

"MOM! DAD! GAI-SENSEI!" Junior waved back to the front row of seats. Usually people blend in the crowd but to Lee's and Gai's case, they naturally stand out..…..Especially if they're wearing those ridiculous jumpsuits.

"GO Junior! Show them the power of youth!" Yelled Gai.

"…..Junior stop waving…..you're embarrassing me…" said Akio.

Everybody seemed to be getting into the spirit in Sarada's eyes but Bolt on the other hand, was still sulking, probably over the fact that his father wasn't there to watch him. 'Not like you're the only in that case!' Sarada wanted to say but she thought this was one moment where she didn't want to get under Bolt's skin. This was a big deal to him and she didn't want to add to his 'problems'. On the other hand, Aomika seemed to be in the same mental state as well. She was staring at her feet the whole time in deep thought. Sarada clicked a few times in front of Aomika to snap her into reality.

"Ready?"

"Huh?!...Uh… Yeah…I'm ready…sorry….just got a lot on my mind…" while speaking those words, Aomika wasn't even looking at Sarada who she was talking too but to the five rookies on the other side of Bolt who were all looking at her with the same intent. "….Don't worry….I'm good….."

After giving the rookies a moment of absorbing the atmosphere, Udon puffed into the arena to be the judge for the third and final part of the chunin exam.

"Let me explain the rules quickly" said Udon as he scanned the faces of the rookie's. To his irritation, there were only a couple of them who actually gave a crap to what he was about to say. "The final test will be a one on one tournament which means there will only be one victor at the end but! Not necessarily one chunin at the end. If you perform like a chunin even if you lost, you will still be promoted to a chunin!"

Wryly, majority of the rookies showed no interest. Instantaneously, Udon was finding it hard to restrain himself from giving each one of these kids a blow on the head, especially Akio, who was staring off in to the distance while playing with a toothpick in his mouth. It's not like it was the first time that kid got under Udon's skin. Most memorably, when he and Bolt thought that it would be funny to use transformation jutsu transform into Udon and walk around the streets walking women's bikini. Udon had a lot of explain to do for that especially to his girlfriend Moegi whose respect for him went down after witnessing the event that shook the whole village.

'….Those damn brats!...' Udon calmly paced his anger. He then cleared his throat and let out a huge sigh before continuing. He pointed at the massive screen above them. As if he had the magic finger, the tournament ladder appeared at the sway of his finger. That, got all the attention of the rookies including the audience who hushed in silence for a bit as they tried to analyse the ladder.

There were a total of sixteen participants. The tournament will consist of three rounds with four, two then one matches respectively as the tournament goes on.

"Let the final exam begin!"

* * *

><p>The crowd murmured in excitement as the rookies walked into the waiting lobby except for the first two that will be fighting first in the first round series. It was not exactly the match of the day, but everyone was curious to see on how the 'hokage's son' will do.<p>

There was a lot of tension between the rivalry of Akio and Bolt that even carried to the stands and hushed the crowd.

"….. You wouldn't even make do for a warm up…." Teased Akio wryly.

"Hmmph! We'll see whose laughing at the end!"

"OH! You sound pretty confident! Come on now! Show me what the 'hokage's brat' can do!"

"I promise! By the end of today, people will know me as Bolt Uzumaki!"

The buzzer sounded and the word fight flashed on the screen above in red big block letters. Already the crowd was on their feet as the two boys go at it without holding back. They both moved surprisingly quick making it hard for the 'common' townspeople to keep up. But the experienced fighters were watching in awe at the talent displayed before them. Both the boys were certainly not a Lee junior or an Inojin Yamanaka, but they both have a chip on their shoulder and have now raised their bar to compete at the highest level giving them a fighting chance at winning this tournament.

There was the occasional clang and sparks whenever they clash with their kunai's but other than that, it was a fight of agility trying to out manoeuvre the other.

Now that Bolt got the hang of his opponent's movements, it was now time to break the rhythm and go to phase two of the match.

Bolt timed the throw of his kunai with an explosive tag when Akio and Daisuke were running towards him in a zig-zag motion. It landed right in front of the two while making a turn, which in turn made it harder to turn. Akio already planted his foot and leaned his weight to one side but he had enough strength to push off in the other direction to dodge the cheap attack. Daisuke on the other hand was a dog; he had the agility to dodge it with ease.

Now that Akio's rhythm was broken, it gave time for Bolt to prepare. Next, Bolt unleashed a smoke bomb to hide his next move.

"Don't be a fool!" Akio roared as he performed seals for a human beast clone. "Even though I can't see you, I can still smell you! Let's go Daisuke, Gatsuga!"

Both Akio and Daisuke who was transformed into a human clone of Akio, torpedoed towards the direction of Bolt's scent within the smoke but he couldn't see what the crowd could. By the time the smoke cleared, Akio only realised then that Daisuke was chewing on Bolt's black jacket. Then out of the blue a rasengan went swooshing past Akio's face scratching the surface of his cheek.

Bolt had existed behind the smoke screen leaving his jacket in there for bait to give him enough time to prepare his 'yo-yo' rasengan. It was a new technique and he hasn't quite mastered the aiming part but he can sustain it now. He pulled back his rasengan like there was an invisible elastic string.

Akio had to dodge a second time to avoid the returning 'yo-yo' rasengan. He tumbled sideways and watched the ball swoosh its way back to Bolt's hand but Bolt didn't hold on to it. Instead he swung it behind his back and moved it around his hips like a basketball.

The crowd was held breathless from the word 'go' up till now. When the rthythm was broken there was a moment of awkward silence as everyone was trying to figure out what they just witnessed but soon after they roared in excitement at the action even though they don't quite understand what was going on.

"….I've never seen a rasengan used like that-Ow!" Konohamaru said in awe while his newly born son, Akamatsu, was pulling on his blue scarf from Hanabi's arms.

"Akamatsu! What are you doing to papa?!" Hanabi pulled the laughing baby from Konohamaru but the more she pulls Akamatsu away, the more the kid tightens its grip and even laugh out loud in delight.

"…Should I take delight that our kid enjoying this kid…." Said Konohamaru.

"No…he's turning into an idiot like his father!"

"Hanabi….you're so mean…"

On the other hand, Himawari couldn't be excited enough that her big brother just pulled off a sweet move. Hinata was equally excited if not more than her daughter beside her and the mother and daughter pair was oblivious that just next to them, Konohamaru was being choked to death by his own son.

"Go Big Brother! Do your best!"

"Go Bolt! I'm proud of you!"

It was time for phase in the fight. Both Akio's and Bolt's blood was boiling in excitement going beyond their intention to just warm up.

"Not bad 'hokage's brat'! I might just have to try a little harder!"

"Please do. It'll make me look bad if I was just beating up a weakling and his puppy!"

Normally they would jump on each other by now after throw insults to one another but during the course of the match, the other grew to respect the other more. Instead they gave each other a couple of huge breaths to prepare for the next phase of the fight. Before the crowd knew it, in a blink of an eye, the two boys were at it again.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**

**PS: Happy New Years Everyone!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Akio rubbed the smudge of dirt on his cheek with the back of his hand that he got when he charged in with gatsuge. Bolt, who was standing a few metres in front of his crouched figure, was looking very calm and collected and, with a smug look on his face which irritated Akio which caused his hair to spike up a little more than they usually do.

"How do you like my new move?! Pretty sick huh!" Bolt asked with the word 'tease' all over his tone.

"Don't get ahead of yourself! I haven't shown all my moves!" said a he drew a couple of the same scroll from his back pouch. Akio bit a small opening on his thumb and let a few drops of blood to touch the parchment.

The colour of deep red tainted the paper then spreaded until it touched the seals. Steam busted out on both ends of the scrolls that once again created a fog in the arena. But this time it didn't just cover a small section, rather the whole arena was in a thick mist.

Everyone slowly stood up from their seats to witness the event. Or rather, tried to see what was going on between the two boys in there.

"What….What kind of scroll was that?..." Sakura asked as she was sensing a weird eerie feeling with the mist.

"…..Long ago…Way before the Kaguya and the discovery of the chakra fruit… There was a myth of a mass murderer" said Ten Ten in an alarming calm tone. This 'man' possessed three weapons; a bow staff, a sword and a pair of claws each made from a material beyond this world. No one knew where he came from, he just appeared out of nowhere and started killing everyone. No one can stop him. The only option that the human race had was to run and hide. But the murderer was just a mortal being and eventually died. My ancestors found the body and hid away the three tools of murder….Then that idiot sneaked into my home and stole them!' said Ten-Ten. She didn't realise that her story had a horror effect to it that her listeners where listening while holding their breathe.

"OH! Don't worry! They're just really powerful weapons! They're evil or anything…I think….."

Everyone took a sigh of relief, especially Kiba whose nephew is in that mist wielding one of those scary weapons. Everyone but Shiroku who was still in that dark shady moody state but this time he wasn't thinking about the horror story, rather, he was looking at his sword.

"And yes Shiroku-kun, that sword I gave you was one of them" Ten-Ten said as she noticed the young jonin inspecting his sword from a different point of view now. "I heard, that sword was made from lightning itself. You could even hear it humming. When I learnt you were of a lightning nature, I knew it would be perfect for you-"

The moment of stillness in the arena broke as the mist shifted indicating that something very fast was moving within. There was no sound but just the cool 'swoosh' that would end with a 'CLANG!'

"Looks like the boys are back at it" Rock Lee commented but still the crowd was fazed by the lack of vision of the action within the mist.

"Out of all the three weapons, shiroku's sword has the least backfire…..the other two however….just be ready to jump in in about five minutes time…" said Ten-Ten.

* * *

><p>It was a sunny day and usually, Bolt would perspire just by standing still. But with all this mist around him, it made his surroundings feel cool.<p>

The mist was really thick. Bolt couldn't even see his hand when he placed it in front of him but he could he his rasengan glowing. It would his position away, he thought so he released the technique and moved from his current position. He transferred chakra under his heels to control the impact he makes with the ground with his steps to minimise the sound made. But that proved to be useless as Akio and Daisuke weren't hunting by sight of ear but by scent.

It was an unfair battleground for Bolt. He can't see his opponent and when he finally does manage to locate him, it will a metre away from him when he senses the mist make way for the fast incoming missile that gatsuga is.

Bolt managed to sidestep just in time to dodge a fatal blow but he scratch by it surface as it flew by. He suffered the injury on his left side and it wasn't just a normal wound he would suffer from a normal scratch from a gatsuga. There were five deep long claw marks just behind his shoulder.

"What the hell man! Cut your nails!" Bolt screamed but there was no reply only the movement of mist on the other side as his 'attacker' disappeared in the thickness.

"Dammit!" Bolt cursed. He lost his jacket and had no spare cloth to stop the bleeding from his wounds. "If I don't end this quickly I'll pass out!"

He wanted to move and try his luck running into Akio but that was highly unlikely. Akio can manoeuvre with his eyes closed and also, Bolt will exhaust his limited strength. So, he decided to just stay still and closed his eyes trying to enhance his other senses. Then Bolt felt it again, the same movement behind him but this time, he was able to sense the ripples in the mist much earlier and gave him enough time to withdrew a kunai to block off the attack that could have disabled his remaining good arm.

It turned out, that was Daisuke. And by sticking his kunai out, Bolt managed to mortally wound the puppy and he heard the yelp as the puppy crashed into the ground.

'This is my chance!' Bolt thought. Surely Akio would have heard his precious puppy's cry and would rush to its aid. He could use Daisuke's location as a trap itself. All Bolt needed was vision.

Bolt forced his left arm and formed the tiger seal then chanted: "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

He produced four clones, two went ahead to locate Daisuke and the other two stayed to help Bolt produce another rasengan.

It wasn't long before Bolt received the memories of his popped clones. Then he instantaneously threw his 'yoyo-rasengan' in the direction.

Bolt waited and perspired as he panicked. A few seconds have passed and it should have smashed into Akio by now but there was just dead silence apart from the whirring sound of his rasengan fading into the distance.

Then a pair of bloodthirsty red eyes appeared not too far in front of Bolt then immediately disappeared along with a cry of pain from both of his clones then the soft puff as they disappeared. Bolt looked to either side towards his clones but there was still no sign of Akio.

Half a second later, Bolt could have sworn that he felt death when a pair of sharp claws land on both of his shoulders. The sharp ends dug deeper as he was hurled on his back and the weight of Akio was behind or so Bolt thought that it was Akio.

The mist started to shift then collect in a spiralling formation like water in a sink going down the drain. Only the drain was 'Akio' who was absorbing the mist into 'its' body.

Now it was clearer of who was on top of Bolt, or rather, what was. It had the clothing of Akio and his facial features was recognisable as his rival but the mouth was slightly elongated to form a snout and his teeth were longer and sharper with foam flooded out his mouth.

Although it looked like Akio, there was no sign of human intelligence behind that red bloodshot eyes. It was the most intimidating feature to Akio's werewolf-like self but Bolt was more wary of the foamy mouth that was inching towards him.

Bolt grimaced and winced as he tried to move. Each small movements resulting in a sharp stab of pain as the sharp claws shuffled in his wounds but he need to pull his right arm back to call back his rasengan.

After the awkward worrying silence by the crowd, they suddenly exploded and cheered. The little ball of air and chakra came streaking back to its owner from the other side of the arena. The yoyo-rasengan slammed on Akio's side with an emphasis of power from the velocity of its long travel. The yoyo-rasengan dispersed on impact but the moment carried through that lifted Akio off Bolt.

Akio shifted in mid-air and grabbed the ground on all fours, leaving a trail of claws as he drifted. His expression was unchanged, still the blood thirsty look. He stood up slightly hunched over and both his arms just hanging. Then in a fuzzy blur like a movie skipping a frame, Akio went from one body to two bodies. Except the pair of claws split between the two so each was only wielding one.

The crowd gave a gasp while Bolt only just managed to stand giving heavy pants and his eyes have closed from partly exhaustion and blood loss. The kid had no strength left to fight but he still had plenty of will to keep fighting.

"What's wrong Bolt?! Am I too good for you?!" said Akio who all thought was possessed but his last words gave everyone a sigh of relief.

"Y-You….W-Wish…" Bolt replied still didn't give up even though his body couldn't keep up.

"Don't worry! I'll finish this quickly!" Akio said as he and he clone charged.

"….Come at me…!" Bolt replied.

The next little bit happened a little too quickly. There was a white a streak that came by then Akio's clone was sliced in half when the two were couple of metres apart. Then the confusion got wilder as a girl appeared between the two fighters.

Udon immediately blew the whistle at the violation of another contestant stepping in the fight. Although Sarada probably didn't care if would be dsqualified. She eyed Akio with an angry look, challenging him with an active chidori on her right hand.

"You…..idiot….I had that….." Bolt said weakly to Sarada and as the last drops of his strength left him, he fell forward on her shoulder.

"…..You dummy…You should have surrendered…." Sarada said after twisting and catching Bolt who left a bloody stain on her dress.

An arm wrapped around Akio's neck then a voice very close to his ear spoke.

"You little piece of dog poo are in a heap of trouble!" Kiba said. "But congratulation, you won. Since Bolt was disqualified."

"Oh come on! Let me off the hook uncle!"

"Not this time! You little troublemaker!" Ten-Ten said who was right behind Kiba. "Give me back what you stole!"

"I didn't steal it! I was going to put it back after!" Akio said. Although that was his initial intention as a prank but after witnessing its power, there was no way in hell he was going to give it back!

"Liar!"

"(sigh…) Fine….." Akio finally said.

After seeing to it the weapons was properly sealed, Ten-Ten gave a sigh of relief and said. "I just hope no one had the 'brilliant' of stealing the bow staff…"

As Ten-Ten said those words, she noticed her husband Rock Lee frowning and sweating on the spot.

"Because Sarada is disqualified, Emi wins by default and hence we move on to the next match" Udon announced in the background.

"Lee! Tell me!"

Rock Lee jerked on the spot and sweated even more at the tone of his wife rising.

"The next match, Lee junior versus Aomika

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued….**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Chapter 20

There was a designated stairs to get down from the contestants lobby onto the arena but Junior got too hyped and jumped straight off from the balcony on to the arena. For a normal human being to jump off that high would certainly die or be crippled for the rest of their life. Junior, of course, wasn't a normal human being. He has been training his body under intense stress since the moment he could walk. Five years of everyday grinding, putting his body to the limit to get his body at the peak of human physical condition. Now here he is sending a ripple on the ground as he landed with ease and finesse. He the crowd's approval on that entrance as he was drowned by a roar.

On the other hand, Aomika took her time with the stairs. She hasn't spoken since this whole tournament started apart from the odd 'yes' and 'no' answer to Sarada's attempts to get a conversation going. It was only natural for a friend to try to and cheer up a gloomy friend. In Aomika's case, she wasn't sad or depressed or anything but rather she was getting herself ready mentally for what was about to unfold. Half way down the stairs, there was a dark elegant figure leaning on the wall.

"I'm counting on you, dear sister…" Megumi said just reminding her sister the task at hand. She has been watching in doubt at the actions and attitudes of her little sister and she's getting the impression that the little girl might have grown a little soft spot for the village and her so called 'friends'.

"You don't have to tell me twice…Megumi….." shotted Aomika back as she continued walking.

"Tch! Just don't screw up!"

Aomika didn't respond. She has said all she wanted to say and her sister did too, that conversation was over. As she got closer to the foot of the stairs where a rectangular doorway of light was waiting for her, she could hear the chants and cheers of the spectators on the stand. She entered the doorway of light momentarily blinded by the glare of the sun. She strained her eyes for a moment from the glare, when her eyes adjusted, her opponent, Lee junior was crouched on the far side panting but not heavily. 'I wonder what kind of crazy warm up drills he performed…..' Aomika thought who had a couple of ideas in mind.

Junior stood up and made 'nice guy' pose blinding Aomika with the glare coming from his smile.

'…..wierd…..' Aomika thought.

"Let's have a good match!" Junior said super-enthusiastically. NO comment form Aomika. Both contestants took their stance and waited for the whistle from the judge, Udon. As soon as the whistle blows, Aomika was blown as well by the speed of junior. He just disappeared on his standing spot, displacing the still air around him that gave the crowd and Aomika a good wake up call.

'Where is he? Left? Right?' Aomike shifted her gaze on both sides. She saw a blurr on the corner of her eye. Her first reaction was to turn and face her opponent but once again, junior did the same thing again. Everything in Aomika's vision turned to blurr as she was thrown across the arena. In a blurr her vision's focus all returned but she seemed to have missed a beat in her breathing pattern as junior planted another kick on her stomach, this time coming from underneath.

Aomika was launch up in the air. Everything in her vision was a blur once again and in the same sequence. Before she could even sense the next attack coming let alone react to it, strips of white bandages already surrounded her. Junior flashed behind her and bear hugged her. Along with junior's grip, the strips also tightened that wrapped Aomika like a mummy.

Junior flipped his prey upside down all the while in the air then torpedo towards the ground. He was normally a guy that showed compassion towards others, always encouraging them but was always very competitive. He thought no regards for his opponent then but with just one thing in his mind, winning.

The dive was quick and it proved to be a fan favourite as the crowd exploded into roars. And it quite literally exploded on impact as well. The arena grounds caved in like a meteor landed in it.

"….What is that technique?!" Chiyoko was watching wide-eyed. She never knew that a human being could muster such a devastating force without using any technique but just pure strength and energy.

"….It must run in the blood…" said Kakashi who felt sympathetic to the girl that just got smashed. "…they tend to overdo things…."

"This one's certainly more powerful than one Lee used against me….." Gaara commented.

Junior hopped back for a moment from his mummified opponent. 'That…should do the trick…..' junior thought as she squinted at the jabs of pain he was feeling all throughout his body. 'Opening the gates really puts a lot of stress on the body…. I'm mighty glad it's all over-!'

Just when he was about to accept the glorious victory, a small hole popped on the coating of white bandages that made a whistling noise constantly rising in pitch like high pressured air trying to fit through a tiny hole, then another popped and another. It was surprising that someone would survive and still lived to fight one but what was more surprising, and what sent chills down the kage' and Jonin's spine, was it wasn't air flowing out but pure high pressured chakra.

Before long the bandage clothing were ripped from the inside that revealed a perfectly fine Aomika who generally looked the same as she walked into the arena except her eyes are glowing and there were a visible chakra aura surrounding her. This time it was Aomika's turn to return the favour….exactly the way it was given to her. But Junior was able to keep up with the fast paced action even though his body was slightly damaged from his previous attacks.

The two fighters could not be seen by any pair of eyes spectating the fighting. The only thing they could see was the collisions that gave away rings of displaced air. It continued like that for more than ten seconds then the rhythm was broken when Junior was smashed into the ground. Aomika was up in the air who was flying to everyone's surprise and she had what looked like six rasengans orbit around her hip of each of the elemental chakra nature. Then all at once, each six balls left their orbits and targeted junior.

Junior, being the competitive boy that he was, didn't give up even though his body was badly hurt. He opened three further gates up to four that gave his body a sudden boost of strength and speed. His skin turned red and like Aomika, an aura of pure energy was visible surrounding him. He zig-zagged on the dodging each balls but they seemed to be control by Aomika and followed him wherever he went.

'Damn!' Junior thought. Even though he was faster and could outrun the attack, he can't keep it up for long. He wanted to save his ace card for later but he last until later at this rate. He pulled out a scroll from his back pouch then released the seal. In an instant a red flare coming from the sky beamed down on the wielder of the bowstaff. Junior winced at the burning feeling on his skin. He knew this is a double-edged weapon. A weapon made from the flames of the sun itself, it burns its wielder for as long as he holds the weapon but also gives them an incredible power. The power depends on the time of day but right now it is noon, the time of the day where the sun is most prominent. Although his mother warned him with the stories about the weapon, he had the gut feeling that this might come in handy and he was spot on. He could worry about his mom later he thought.

Junior planted his feet on the ground and the beam of flare followed him that continued to provide him the power of the sun and also damage his body. The six elemental balls followed him and with six jabs in succession with the solid end of the staff, they disintegrated at the touch of the weapon. He pointed the other end (hollow end) towards Aomika in the sky.

The chakra around Aomika started to fold, collect and head towards the hollow end of the stick. Before long, her own body started to drift as well. At first she was able to resist but the closer she got as she was slowly inching closer, the more powerful the pull got and before long she was being dragged without resistance.

Junior flipped the stick so that the solid end was facing his oncoming target. With all his might, he put his legs behind the jab that had an explosion on impact. Both genins were thrown on opposite side of the arena. The flare beam seemed to have disappeared and so did all the fight left in junior. He was unconscious and suffering from third degree burns. Luckily he was exposed for any longer otherwise the damage might have been permanent. On the other side, his opponent was still getting up. The crowd murmured in confusion as the person getting wasn't the little girl from before. This was obviously much older and bigger.

Then to add more to their confusion, there was another explosion in town and this time with a defeating screech coming from a creature. In addition the wind carried warm air with it indicating that something very hot just landed in the village.

Rock Lee and Ten-Ten hopped into the arena while the crowd erupted in panic. They were all running towards the exit but some of them turned up causing a clog at the double door exit as they saw a huge bird causing wreckage just outside.

"Hinata! Hanabi! Get the kids out of here!" Konohamaru said as loud as he could to make sure his voice was heard over the racket going on all around them.

"But Bolt is still-!" Hinata protested but was cut off.

"I'll get him! Just go!" Konohamaru gestured for them to make a run for it as he turned away from them with Shiroku and Satomi following on his tail.

"What's going on senpai?" Shiroku asked.

"Hell if I know!" Konohamaru replied as he looked into the arena where Rock Lee was faced off with 'Aomika' he presumed joined by Kiba and Shino while Ten-Ten and Sakura was knelt down beside junior to tend first-air to the injured genin.

* * *

><p>"Lee!" Chiyoko cried as the explosion happened. She got up her seat and bent over the rails to get a better look. He had steam coming off his blackened dried skin and he didn't seem to be conscious. Another explosion happened shortly and the crowd started to get unsettled and before long the exit was jammed. Chiyoko escaped into the crowd before her father could stop her.<p>

Then there was a third and a fourth explosion. Judging from the magnitude of sound and the general direction it came from, it was probably their communications office and satellite.

"Sai. Get a team and check on those locations. See if you can get an SOS to the other nations….we don't want to be facing that thing on our own…" Kakashi said. From their vantage point, they could see the great phoenix burning everything on its path. And standing on the of the bird was a man he recognised.

"Takeshi the tamer…I warned you about him Sixth Hokage…." Gaara said he prepared for battle. "Do you reckon you still have some gas left in that old tank of yours?!"

"Haha! I'm not that old yet!"

Takeshi eyed the sixth Hokage and rumbled the echoed through the whole town.

"Konoha! It's time for payback!"

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued...**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Chapter 21

Everyone, who wasn't fighting at that instant was, of this year's chunin contestants was just relaxing and chilling from all the free room services of the waiting lobby for them. Well…more like just Inojin and Shikadai abusing the free foods funded by the hokage himself. ChoCho, who was usually the main subject of eating, was looking at her two teammates in disgust as they were stuffing their spoiled faces with sweets.

"Stop it you two….do you guys have any idea how disgusting you look…" ChoCho said half watching the other genins ready to deny that she knew these two buffoons once they notice she was talking to them like she cared. Inojin gulped as he swallowed the piece(s) of chocolate fudge that bulked on his cheeks then looked at her bored and said said:

"…..Meh… My mom would never let me eat these things…"

Shikadai wiped the cream and chocolate smudges around his mouth and said: to back up his friend.

"I guess you don't understand since you get to eat anything you want….fatty…"

ChoCho just about had it with her two goof of a friends when the ground underneath their feet shook and the small cracks on the walls and ceiling started to form. The sudden tremor got everyone on their toes and looked over to one another, looking for any answers from one another. Each one of them returned empty gazes then ChoCho stated out the obvious that everyone seemed to have missed.

"Where are the guys from the village of rain?"

"Tsch!" Sarada sneered in an 'I knew it!' tone. A sudden fear, a thought stabbed her as she remembered one vulnerable boy lying unconscious in a hospital bed not too far away from here. Whether this whole thing had something to do with him, Sarada didn't care. All she knew was he was in a potential danger and that she needed to get to him first before any danger.

With haste, Sarada left the room without uttering a word to anyone. The rest just looked on as confused as any of them the room. Another explosion occurred and this time it came from somewhere close. In fact too close that some of the debris ricocheted in to the room. They looked over the rails and saw Rock Lee with an unknown woman fist-to-fist and another two that they recognised as Kiba and Shino circling around to flank the unknown woman.

* * *

><p>Rock Lee slid his fist away from Aomika's letting the sudden change of pressure get her off balance. Aomika had all of her weight behind that punch and found it hard to recover her footing but she could move her arms and blocked Lee's attempt to smashed a couple of her ribs with a kick on her right side. Unfortunately for her, Rock Lee wasn't the only aiming to attack her. On her left side, she heard a rustle and a glint of a kunai aiming to impale her at her left side. Before she could react, her vision was blinded by a screen of bugs. Half a second later, she felt a stab on her side. The pain was delayed along with the flow of blood dampening her left side.<p>

Kiba pulled out his kunai along with his comrades, kept their distance form their defeated opponent. Aomika fell to one knee, feeling the antagonising pain on her side. She shifted her eyes, scanning her opponent. Just as she suspected, these guys are seasoned fighters. Their guards were still up even though they fatally wounded their enemy but Aomika had the element of surprise. In terms of tens of thousands of souls inside her that she can sacrifice to heal her body. In the span she calculated the odds, she had already taken the action to heal herself by sacrificing a few souls. She heard the cries in her head as they scream in pain for a moment. A moment of mental torture for Aomika.

Rock Lee, Shino and Kiba were all good fighters and together Aomika won't be able to beat her even in her 'perfect' form, all because of inexperience because. The other five, who was trained since birth, surely wouldn't even break a sweat. Her only chance is if she faced them one by one and she already eyed her first target. The one she concluded as the weakest of the three, Kiba. Aomika opened her mouth and breathed out thick mist that quickly filled the surroundings. It was so thick, that Kiba couldn't smell anything but the moist in the air around him. Shino's bugs were blinded and lost in their senses hence cutting off Shino's senses. Rock Lee was just an ordinary man with ordinary sense of smell and vision but for Aomika, she mixed her chakra with the mist and she knows exactly where each of her enemy to the last hair on their body.

She used the same six elemental balls when she was fighting Junior to take out Kiba. All six were directed by her chakra like a heat seeking missile and each one found their target without a problem. 'One down' she thought but the other two were quick on their feet and existed her territory.

Rock Lee and Shino retreated to the stands which was now abandoned. It seems that the two kages were able to hold of the threat to give same exit passage for the trapped citizens. Sakura and Ten-Ten existed with the rest as soon as Rock Lee engaged the opponent, grabbing her attention so that Aomika wouldn't attempt on chasing his son and wife.

"I knew there was something strange about that girl….." Shino said.

"….We need to clear the mist and come back for Kiba….!" Rock Lee said.

* * *

><p>"What's going on? I can't see anything" asked Yuki to no one in particular. She and the rest that was left in the lobby (Her, Jiro, Shikadai, Inojin and ChoCho) were watching on to watch their seniors fight until the mist grew into a prison around the fighting men and woman.<p>

"We need rendezvous with Kazekage-sama and Chiyoko-sama!" Jiro said alarmed as he watched the mist grew bigger and slowly but surely make its way towards them. All of them slowly backed away from the rails. None of them knew if the mist was harmful or not.

"…..Uh guys….are we gonna run or what?!" ChoCho said.

"Yeah…good idea!" Shikadai said and all of them bolted for the square pathway opposite. They all ran down the long hallway crossing through underneath the stands. All the nurses and guards usually walking along this hallway were now gone along with the noise coming from the crowd above that left this hallway dark and spooky.

"Where's everyone?…." said Inojin as emotionless as ever. They all continued to run until they heard another set of footstep(s) apart from their own. The tunnel was dim and they couldn't see anything further a few metres in front of them. Inojin was quick on his feet. He pulled out his quill along with an empty scroll and drew a handful of mice for scouting. Almost immediately Inojin sensed that his scouts were crushed. "Get ready!" he announced.

Usually Shikadai was always the first one to run but he was confident with all the shadows around. Inojin pulled out two short swords while ChoCho planted her feet to roll over anyone that enters her vision. Jiro hopped a few metres back and readied a fire arrow and pulling back Yuki with him. With her set of skills, she was useless in this confined quarters. She needed a reasonable amount of space to manoeuvre with her fans (wings).

"Stay on my hip, Yuki" Jiro whispered as they waited and heard the set of footsteps get closer. Now it was more distinct and they could tell that there were three up ahead.

"I like Shikadai's hip better!" Yuki still managed to joke even in her useless state, to everyone's ears. Mainly because of her enthusiastic and outgoing nature but to her she was being serious. Which were contradictory to 'The love of her life's' character of pessimist and anti-social.

Strangely for them, the sound of footsteps was increasingly but no one was showing up. Unease and uncertainty worked each one of them up. Perspiration formed especially around the forehead area with a drop escaping and causing each of them to blink, at the same time. It was only half a second but long enough for the three footsteps to get to them.

There was shining gleaming sword across Jiro's neck with a humming sound as if it was alive on its own. Even though Shikadai managed to root one of them, but a set controlled her chakra blades, cloned three times, held under Shikadai's, ChoCho's and Inojin's throat. The third stood in between with the distinct spikey hair and the signature blue scarf. He held a hand signalling cease fire.

"Oh! It's just you guys!" Satomi said relieved and pulled her blades away, so did Shiroku after recognising the 'scared out of his pants' boy from Sunagakure.

"H-How?" Jiro said confused. He was sure that he was paying attention the whole time, listening to the footsteps….

"You can thank this genjutsu genius" Konohamaru answered the question with a pat on Shiroku's shoulder.

"The footsteps themselves were the genjutsu. As soon as you focused on them, you fell in." Shiroku said throwing a peace sign towards Yuki's way with a wink. "OWW!" Shiroku yelped as Satomi hit him on the head.

"Grow up, will you!" she said blushing in embarrassment that her friend was hitting on a girl, or perhaps she was just jealous….

"Where's Bolt?" Konohamaru asked after scanning the faces before him but not recognising his nephew-in-law.

"He's in the infirmary room…. I think Sarada went to get him" Shikadai said.

"Ok. Shiroku, Satomi. Get them to safety. I'll get Bolt and Sarada"

* * *

><p>The morning of the third chunin test.<p>

"We'll be leaving now" said Hachiro to Haru who was sitting ready to perform his task. "You know what to do"

"Don't worry, sensei. It will be done" Haru reassured.

"It better be" said Hachiro before he left and closed the door behind him.

Haru was tasked to multiply himself with the division of the tens of thousands of souls inside him and send each one of his multiplied self around the village setting a circular perimeter with the real body at the epicentre. There was no worry of getting caught as no one goes and reports a child walking down the street. Let alone, there was no way that anyone can tell that another citizen has spotted the same child in another direction. It took time to multiply himself and in addition to that, getting them in place but Aomika seemed to have played enough to give him time and set up the teleportation circling. With a bang, he summoned Takeshi along with the brainwashed; Naruto Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji sacrificing a few thousands of souls in the process.

Sai, who was dispatched to assemble a team to check on the satellites, rallied Temari and Karui. The only ones he can find who doesn't have their hands full with fighting.

"Karui, check the communications office" said Sai. "See if you can still send a message, it not send a messenger bird for help to other nations"

"Alright" Karui followed her orders and headed for where a thick black smoke was coming from to their left.

Sai and Temari contined heading straight towards an electrical fenced area. From their distance, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the fence and the closer they got, the more it would seem so. Also the closer they got, they could see that the satellites were destroyed the shadows that wrapped around them and pulled them down. They could also see two figures standing by the fence both looked too familiar for Sai's and Temari's liking.

Karui on the other hand didn't had much trouble assessing the situation. The communications office was completely smashed with the employee's bodies scattered on the ground laying in a blood of pool. At the centre of the rubble man was holding the last remaining employee by the neck. Without the sign of hesitation, the man squeezed and crushed the employee's neck along with Karui's heart as she recognised the man who slaughtered these people.

Sai was trained by years of training under Danzo to suppress his feelings but the sight of Ino raising up her fists towards him just froze him on the spot in disbelief. The woman who brought life in his soulless life. The woman who put a real smile on his face was now looking at him with the intent to kill him.

"Shikamaru? What hell do you think you're doing?!" Temari scoulded her husband like she usually do but this time with tears running down her cheeks.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued...**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Chapter 22

In addition to Takeshi's already overwhelming presence, the other five genins from the village of rain created their own little havoc across the village with the exception of Haru who was already exhausted all his souls to summon their leader. 'The five' transformed in to their final, 'perfect' form. A form where they take a fully grown man/woman's body and taking the physical limits beyond anyone has seen before. They are naturally fast, strong and a handful of experienced leaf shinobi were having trouble just by trying to put a scratch on them. It was all hands on deck while the civilians made their way up the Hokage Mountain to take shelter in the fortified bunker within.

Already there were a lot of casualties. The general hospital was the second most protected area only second to the fortified bunker. Streams of injured shinobis and, to Sakura's dismay, civilians as well flooded the empty rooms and eventually they would have to lay mattresses along the hallways and even the lobbies and waiting areas. Although Sakura was one of the strongest warriors in the village, she was also the best medical personnel and with the amount of wounded people that continued to flood the hospital, she was needed there more.

"Sakura-san, will my junior be okay?" Ten-Ten asked with tears hanging on the edge of her eyes. Her voice trembled at the uncertainty of junior's condition. Since being evacuated from the arena, the badly burnt body of junior hasn't shown any life apart from the weak pulse just under his chin.

"He will be fine! I assure you!" Sakura's voice was monotonic but it didn't mean that she didn't care. The sound of sympathy was still evident in her voice but it was a reminder to Ten-Ten that this was no time to be shedding tears. Sakura looked Ten-Ten deep into the eyes to convey the message.

"I understand. I'll leave him to you then" The trembling on Ten-Ten's voice disappeared. She wiped the tears from her eyes and now the determination and fire was back in her eyes, there was still a fight to be fought after all.

"Don't worry Ten-Ten. I'll take good care of him" Sakura said. Just as she said those words, there was another explosion that sent a tremor in the hospital. The lights flickered or and off with the frightened voices of the patients. It lasted for a few moments and when it ended, there was a loud shrill scream coming from downstairs.

Alarmed along with Ten-Ten, Sakura called for her assistant who was still scanning the ceiling for any signs of damage. "Take care of him!" Sakura said. Both kunoichis rushed towards where the scream came from. Before long there was another scream with the same horrified tone to it the disturbed everyone who heard it.

"Did someone get in?" Ten-Ten asked as both she and Sakura turned the corner then flew down the stairs.

"…I just hope no one did…" Sakura said slowly in contempt. She dismissed the idea that those ugly screams of death weren't from her patients but the odds were against that notion. A couple more screams were heard that made Sakura clench her fists and gritted her teeth in anger. Before long they reached the lobby downstairs where the screams were echoing from but they were too late. It was already a bloodbath.

Bodies lay on the ground stained in a deep dark red colour. Men, women, or children it didn't matter, they were all slaughtered the same way. A slice on their necks. The next shock came in a heart breaking fashion, for Sakura anyways.

There was a dark figure standing in the midst of the bloody massacre. The dark figure wore a navy blue sash around his head, pushing his spiky hair down. He wore a black high-collared shirt with a flak jacket which covers his right shoulder. His right for arm was wrapped with navy blue bandages. The same arm that was wielding a sword soaked with the blood still dripping of the helpless, and innocent people. The next surprise though came in a heart breaking fashion as the man turned that revealed of his face to the two kunoichis, for Sakura anyway. There was no doubt the man wielding the sharingan in one eye and the rinnegan in the other was her husband.

Sakura froze on the spot still contemplating what she was seeing, what her heart was telling her and what she wanted to believe but this version of Sasuke showed no remorse. He didn't even hesitate. At the moment he spotted Sakura he dashed for a stab straight through the heart.

"….Sasuke?..." she muttered uncertainly.

On the other hand, Ten-Ten wasn't emotionally paralysed as Sakura. She saw the whole scenario unfolding in her mind and took action in advance by grabbing Sakura. They both missed the lethal blow by mere inches as they both crashed on the tiled floor.

Sasuke placed a strong foothold then changed his direction towards his escaping prey. Tent-Ten twisted, let Sakura go then pulled out her own sword that materialized in her palms from a scroll blocking the attacking with the flat end so she could put her left hand underneath to support it. Without waiting too long, she shifted her weighted, twisted to the side and let Sasuke's sword be driven into the ground with his own momentum.

An opening arose as Sasuke tried to pull his sword out. Ten-Ten swung her legs around sweeping Sasuke of his feet. She pulled herself up and while Sasuke was horizontally suspended in mid-air for a moment, she slammed her sword's pummel on his chest. Purposely avoiding killing or inflicting a major injury on him.

Sasuke smashed on the ground, his body bouncing back up for half an inch with a gasp of air escaping his lungs before settling back down. Sakura shrieked a short high pitched tone as her husband was thrown to the ground in front of her.

"NO!"

Ten-Ten looked at the mentally and emotionally broken Sakura who was sitting on the ground with her face and her sleeves drenched in her own tears.

"Sakura, he's-" Ten-Ten couldn't finish her sentence as she felt a tear in her lower abdomen. She looked down warily towards the weird feeling of numbness then comes an agonizing amount of pain a she witness a hand wielding a chidori piercing through her. She opened her mouth to speak but only blood spurt gashed of blood gashed.

Sasuke pulled out his now blood stained hand. Ten-Ten held her footing for a few seconds then eventually collapsed like a ragdoll. She was still alive. Still fighting to keep her eyes open afraid that if she closed them, she might not be able to open them again as she watched Sasuke walked over to Sakura's broken state. Mentally and emotionally.

* * *

><p>The civilians who escaped from the stadium were met by a team to escort them to the fortified bunker in the mountains. Straight away as they exited, they could see the massive phoenix, wreaking havoc like a screeching flamethrower. Both the hokage and kazekage were engaged in combat along with a couple of team to support. It looked like they were keeping up, exchanging blows and holding a defensive line to keep the monster at bay until the people can get to safety.<p>

Seeing the intense atmosphere and the so much destruction all around her, Himwari couldn't help but dig her face into her mother's sleeves, even little Akimatsu was crying in his mother's arms as they followed the team towards the fortified bunker. HInata picked up HImawari in an attempt to keep up with the group. To her left and right, half the buildings they ran past were burning down if not already burnt down.

"Dammit!" Hanabi cursed as she had to dodge a falling debris from a close by burning building. Despite the constant encouragement from their escort team, Hinata and Hanabi couldn't help but frown at their current predicament especially that Naruto and Sasuke are out of town. There was an explosion up ahead that halted the group. Out of nowhere, a building near the front of the group exploded taking out the forward half of them. One of the five was responsible of the explosion who was now standing in front of them grinning in pleasure as he found new his new prey.

The escort team gathered in front of him and yelled: "Go! We'll buy you time!"

HInata took responsibility of leading the rest to safety as the hokage's wife. "This way follow me!" Her voice was firm and confident as she spoke a complete contrast to how she used to be. The corner they took avoid the danger but took them into an alley with buildings covering both their sides. They would have to circle around back into their main path after they bypassed the danger. But before they could do such a thing something slammed into their path like a meteor, only with much less damage around it…. Or him as the fog of dust disappeared.

As the fog cleared, it was evident that the man has blonde cropped short hair. He wore a black uniform-style jacket with a red arm band with the Uzumaki crest on his left arm while his right arm was covered in white bandages. But the feature that took Hinata off her feet was the red scarf around his neck that looked very similarly like the one she knitted for her husband. In fact the man in front of them looked like Naruto.

"…Naruto…." HInata said uncertainly. Naruto seemed to have heard it and looked her way but he only returned an empty gaze with no visible life in those pair of blue eyes.

* * *

><p>Shiroku and Satomi led the new generation of Ino-Shika-Cho along with the genins from the sand with the exclusion of their mistress, Chiyoko. It was no brainer what Gaara had in mind when he was naming his first born daughter. In honour of Lady Chiyo who sacrificed her life for his, he named his daughter after her. They ran back to the entrance of the tunnel that rises up into the stands via stairs.<p>

"We need to find Chiyoko-sama immediately!" Jiro said urgently. Yuki had the same frown on her face as the two sand genins looked towards their 'babysitters' at the front of the pack. Neither Shiroku nor Satomi looked back or said anything. They were waiting for the other to say something then eventually Shiroku took responsibility and responded: "We need to get you to safety first"

Shiroku shot a quick glance towards the two sand genins and saw that they were not content. "Don't worry, last I saw she was with her father."

They escaped into the light and up the stairs hurriedly then into the stands of the stadium. The area was cleared of people except for the scraps of litter on the floor. They came from a back and took them an extra few steps to get the peripheral vision of the arena and the burning town on the other side.

"Let's keep going!" Shiroku commanded the group as he sensed the spirits of the young ones wavering. Near the first row of stands, they could see three figures recognisable as Kiba, Shino and Rock Lee. Kiba was on one knee ad bloodied everywhere. He was taking force heavy pants as he tried to communicate with is comrades.

"Damn…I….barely…got out….alive….." He said ragged in between his gasps of breathe. The other two was hunched over their old friend with worried looks. Looking further down, there was a thick mist that seemed to have subsided by now with a silhouette of a standing still woman visible at the centre.

"…That must be one troublesome woma…." Shikadai commented that sent a small smile on Satomi's face. His attitude just makes her smile every now and then even though he was being serious. Frankly, Shikadai being serious was what made it even funnier but now was not the time to be thinking of jokes. Shiroku turned a sharp corner into a set of stairs that descended gradually that eventually led to a two doorway battered doors. Probably from the stampede Satomi noted as she remembered the traffic before she and Shiroku followed Konohamaru downstairs.

The group took a left as soon as they hit the outside. The sudden change in the temperature, the thick dry air all around hit them in the face due to the scattered sources of heat everywhere, fire. Involuntarily, they each wiped their foreheads of the sweat that already formed in only the few moments they've been exposed to the heat.

This was the first time Shiroku has been outside since the attack. He could that there was some sort of force field shaped like a globe around the town. At the root of the force field, there were bodies scattered evenly outlining the village's perimeter. And each body was protected by their own force field which will make breaking the field harder. Consequently it would make defending the village harder, no one can get in or out. Hence no reinforcements or the civilians able to escape and by the looks of things, it's leaning towards annihilation.

The two kage's were fighting the monster towards their right while they make their way towards the safety bunker in the mountains. Up ahead, they could see a leaf shinobi approaching a dark clothed woman who seemed to be relaxed, she even had a sickening smirk on her face. The leaf shinobi's motion looked smooth and judging by those strides, he had a lot of power behind his legs but all of a sudden the man just collapsed suffering from multiple slices all throughout his body that seemed to have materialised out of nowhere.

Satomi and Shiroku wielded their sword and chakra blades after witnessing the gruesome scenario. The woman was standing in their way hence they needed to take her out to advance. The woman turned to them and said: "I'd right now if I were you!"

Shiroku immediately stopped throwing a hand to the side stopping Satomi in her strides. It wasn't because he took the enemies advance but he saw something flash in front of him. Looking closer now, there a very thin thread running across, inches away from his neck. There was chakra running along it. He surveyed his surroundings quickly to see if any more of this traps were set and it would seem so. The woman was standing in the midst of a web of chakra threads surrounding her. The ends of the threads were attached to needle like pins and the woman was holding the same pins in between her fingers 'So she throws them to set the trap but because they were so thin, there was no way anyone could see them at first glance. That's why that leaf shinobi fell….' Shiroku noted.

"What's wrong?" Satomi asked as she noticed Shiroku's worried expression. This was the first time she had seen him like this. The young heartrob was normally pretty confident with his own skills and he had every right to act that way but she saw no sign of that arrogant glint in his eyes then.

"You should take the kids and go…." Shiroku said backing a couple of steps from the thread that almost separated his head from his shoulders. "She's strong…..leave now, I'll cover you..." Shiroku whispered.

"I don't like your tone…..I'm not leaving!"

"Leave…."

"But-!"

"No buts! Leave now!"

Shiroku glared at Satomi who was being stubborn and wouldn't budge. They each had the same reason behind what they were doing, it was because they care deeply for one another. Then a voice spoke from somewhere that sent chills to Satomi and Shiroku freezing them on the spot.

"If she leaves now, that will ruin the much awaited reunion!" said Hachiro. He came out from behind the remnants of the famous 'Ichiraku Ramen'. To skip the introductions, he didn't wore his glasses revealing his distinct hyuuga eyes, the byaakugan. "I thought it'd be nice if we all met up where it all begun for us three" he continued as he patted the burnt walls of the Ichiraku Ramen.

"So this is what it's all about…" Megumi asked sarcastically. "Because you missed your friends?"

"Miss them? No…. I'm gonna kill them!...But it seems we have unwanted guests at our little 'reunion' party!" said Hachiro as he clicked his fingers. Instantaneously 'the five' came out of their hiding spot and snatched each one of the kids behind Shiroku and Satomi then headed into different directions.

Once again, both the leaf jonins were caught off guard as they were still baffled by Hachiro who they all thought who was dead.

"Shall we get the party started?" he asked rhetorically.

* * *

><p>"What the hell is going on?!" Bolt asked angrily towards Sarada who was blocking the exit. "Get out of the way Sarada!"<p>

"You're still injured its best if you stay here!" said Sarada who was wondering how Bolt could regenerate that quickly. His wounds were relatively healed and his strength was definitely back to full strength as he was managing to hurt her ears with that loud voice of his.

"Sarada! If you don't step aside now, I'll have to hurt you!...It will really hurt!"

Sarada was frowning as she tried to work if this spoiled brat in front of her was being serious or not. Either way, he just sounded really stupid.

"Enough of your romantic bickering….." Konohamaru said with a sigh as he half expected to find the two like this but he didn't expect to find Bolt looking like nothing happened half an hour ago. 'The nine tailed fox's chakra…" Konohamaru thought.

"It's her fault uncle-! What? I-It's nothing romantic at all….o-or anything!" Stuttered Bolt as he pointed towards the innocent looking Sarada.

"Me? You're the one doing all the talking!...Tsk!" said Sarada angling her face to hide her blushed cheeks from Bolt. Konohamaru was behind her so he wouldn't see she thought. "It's for your own good. You'll probably get lost in this hallways…you're a dummy….."

"You're the dummy! I could defeat you in one blow if I wanted you!...but I chose not to! Cause mom won't like it!"

"(sigh)…don't these two have a sense of urgency…." Konohamaru muttered to himself then there was another explosion that sent a mild tremor once again.

"Let's go." Said Konohamaru calmly and alaramed.

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued...**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or the characters in this story.**

Chapter 23

Konohamaru with Bolt and Sarada, exited the underground area of the stadium. He was only gone for half an hour maximum and already the situation outside were drastically worse last time he saw it. 'This doesn't look good…' Konohamaru flinched at the hot air around him that felt like there were small pins pricking on his skin. He glanced back behind him to see how his two students were coping and it would seem they were experiencing the same thing.

"What the hell is this?!" Bolt complained in an unusually loud voice but probably that volume of noise was the usual for him. 'That's right he hasn't been out yet…' Konohamaru thought as Bolt took in his surroundings with a bewildered look. Over in the arena Rock Lee was still fighting against Aomika while Shino and Kiba were on the stands heavily wounded. 'He's holding back' Konohamaru thought as he eyed Rock Lee's struggling form. 'He's the worst match against Aomika of all people. His values just won't let him hurt a kid….' Konohamaru thought. He was right, Rock Lee had a chance to deliver a lethal blow to her abdomen, taking out the liver and a few organs, but he didn't and he suffered instead because of his hesitation. Rock Lee took a kick on his chest shattering his sternum. He was down on one knee and rest on the other as he took ragged, desperate breathe while trying to the flowing blood coming out of his mouth.

"Are you alright Kiba-san?! Shino-san?!" Konohamaur rushed to their side He knew quite well of these two senior's capabilities but like Rock Lee's situation, they just can't find it in their hearts to go all out against a little girl. Konohamaru was so preoccupied by his seniors and contemplating that Bolt slipped past him and jumped into the arena. "Bolt! Don't go there!" He yelled at his very stubborn nephew-in-law.

"I'll get him!" Sarada soon followed.

"Not you too!" Konohamaru yelled at his other student.

"Take a step back bushy-brow sensei! I got this!" Bolt said in his usually arrogant tone.

"You can't-!" Rock Lee managed those words out as he half choked on his blood.

"Hoy Aomika!" Bolt pointed to the unscathed woman in the middle of the arena. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"…My name is not Aomika…" Asami said impassively.

"I give what your name is!" Bolt continued to talk in a very loud angry manner. "For all I care it might as well be trash! Don't you know what that forehead protector you're wearing means?!" Bolt pointed to the protector on Asami's forehead. Asami was taken by surprise by that. She didn't realise she was still wearing that. "It means you're one of us dammit!" Bolt continued his barrage. "So why the hell are you attacking you own comrades?!"

Again, Bolt's words reached deep into Asami. She was frozen on the spot, pondering Bolt's words. Half of her wanted to stop this right now. These were friends, people who looked after her when she was new and alone in this village. The other half were her pre-Konoha memories. Memories of her father's orders.

She remembered well back when she was five years old, five years ago. Her family had no real place to call home back then. They were just travellers never staying more than a couple of night sat one place. That was because her mother was a priestess who knew a very powerful forbidden jutsu. Back then she and her people were hunted as criminals. They worked for Orochimaru using their connections to the gods to tap into people's souls and manipulate them. Like many, not everyone co-operated or yielded to Orochimaru's threats. Others left their stronghold, an old citadel hidden in the country of fire protected by an invisible could jutsu to protect their forbidden jutsu from the outside world of power hunger man. One of those runaways was her mother accompanied by Takeshi the captain of the guard at that time. Everyone was hunted, found, dragged back to their citadel and used them as guinea pigs for this never before used forbidden jutsu. On the road the couple had two daughters, Megumi who was seven years older than her little sister Asami. Megumi was a feisty girl while Asami was a demure type.

They kept running for five long years and was eventually found. Thankfully it was Naruto who found them. A kind young man who listened to their story and told him everything from their mother being a priestess to Orochimaru enslaving her people. Takeshi proposed the idea that they would reveal the jutsu to deactivate the invisible cloud in return for their safety. Naruto agreed and gave them citizenship to a leaderless place of Amagakure apart from Naruto has been governing that place after the third shinobi war. He granted him the rights for its leader immediately giving them protection and status. Asami remembered hiding in a hole under a tree with her sister while their parets negotiated. After a couple of days, their parents picked them up and their lives were better for the next while. Their parents participated in campaigns to take down Orochimaru and eventually they were victorious.

Their happy days were only short lived. Sasuke Uchiha of the leaf were suspicious of the parents. He didn't like the idea of strangers immediately granted power. Naruto explained their situation living the fact that the woman was a priestess. If Sasuke knew, she would be executed on the spot. He told Sasuke that they were just commoners lucky enough to escape Orochimaru's grasp. But it's like what they all say, there is no secret that won't be revealed and Sasuke eventually found out about the mother and had her executed.

"The law is hard…But it is the law…..I am sorry…" Were the words Asami heard from Sasuke as she was eavesdropping in her father's office at Amagakure.

All of a sudden Asami's life flashed before her after hearing Bolt's words. She was speechless and….crying….. After calming herself down and ridding her mind of her terrible past. She replied: "You don't understand Bolt….."

"I don't care who you are or what you did in the past! What I care about is who you're going to become! You're an important shinobi of the leaf!" Bolt was being stubborn to change her mind but Asami's mind was made. She has chosen this path, a path of revenge. It's too late to turn back now. "Look. I'm wearing the same forehead protector! That means I won't abandon my comrade."

"…..I appreciate all you've done for me…But we are enemies….nothing more….nothing less….." Asami replied hiding all the emotions behind a force clam tone. She took a sumo stance and again produced the six elemental balls. Asami eyed Bolt for a moment as if sayng good-bye before she finished him off. Then out of nowhere, two shadow clones of emerged behind her with a formed rasengan between them. Her Asami's actions were delayed by the momentary freeze of a surprise and the natural delay of muscles.

"Fine! I'll keep knocking sense into until you wake up!" called out the real Bolt in front of her. The rasengan exploded on her back taking out a good number of souls in her for rapid regeneration. The explosion also created a small cloud of smoke where she saw a very quick shadow darting its way around her. This time Asami was aware and dodged a chidori strike to her rear from Sarada. Asami went on to counter attack but Sarada was quick and slipped out. She didn't waste time cursing herself by missing her target. Asami quickly formed a series of seals and she chanted: _'Goddess of the sun, I pray you lend me your strength'_

A ball by the size of a basketball formed a metre above her head. Sarada soon found what it can do as a beam of scorching fire coming from the ball followed her. Sarada was able to evade easily as the beam wasn't very fast but it seared the ground and dug a small trench in its path. Bolt took the opportunity Asami was busy and charged head on. Asami saw that coming miles away and had already performed another set of seals. This time she chanted: _'Goddess of the moon, I pray you lend me your strength'_

The gravity around Asami became stronger tenfold. Bolt was dragged to the ground by the strong gravitational pull restraining his movements heavily. He could lift his body of the ground and the pull got stronger by the passing second. Asami moved the aim of her sun beam towards the paralysed Bolt. Sarada knew that she could do nothing against the powerful beam but after realising the next sequence of events, she just couldn't stay still. At that moment she felt like she was ready to die.

It felt like everything was in slow motion for Sarada. The beam slowing inching its way, digging a scorched trench on its way towards Bolt's trapped body. She could see, Bolt was gritting his teeth fighting with all his strength to no avail. At that moment Sarada felt helpless, one of the most important people in her life was about to get killed in front of her and she could do nothing about it. She felt angry, desperate and hurt enough that she started to feel a strong sensation on her eyes. She felt chakra forming on her eyes and she started to see things differently. Sarada saw that flow of chakra on Asami's sun's technique and located its source.

Sarada formed chakra underneath her feet to propel her past the overwhelming gravity around Asami. She also had her second chidori ready (one more until her limit) to smite the yellowish-orangish orb above Asami. The orb exploded sending embers around it. Sarada also burnt her right arm in the process but she wasn't done yet. She could see with her sharingan that Asami was pumping chakra of her body in a circle with a radius of five metres that had everything in it contracting and collapsing into a moat around her. The other thing that Sarada noticed was how Asami hasn't moved an inch since activating the moon jutsu. 'It must be a requirement to stay still while using it' Sarada thought. She placed all her remaining chakra underneath her feet, crossing her fingers that it was strong enough to disturb the moon jutsu.

Asami saw Sarada getting ready for launch. As soon as she saw Sarada pushed off, Asami her palm up in a stopping notion then immediately contracted into a fist. Sarada was instantly suspended in mid-air wondering with the last bits of her strength what was going on. With her newly acquired sharingan, Sarada could see her remaining chakra flowing into Asami's fist then spreading to across her body. After a short while, Sarada ran out of chakra and passed out. Asami simply released her technique and Sarada dropped on the ground like a ragdoll with a 'thud' and a puff of dust around her.

After seeing both of her opponents down, she unconsciously loosened her guard which consequently left her open for an incoming attack. She received a thrust on her abdomen from a staff that continued to extend that pushed her out of the moon circle. Down the length of the staff, she saw Konohamaru looking on warily. The gravity was released and the ground stopped creaking on the spot. Bolt moaned a relief but was too hurt too stand up. Sarada was too dried of chakra to fight.

"Teacher will take it from here….Looks like someone has been a bad students…" Konohamaru glared at Asami who had a blank face looking back at him.

* * *

><p>Ino and Shikamru turned promptly at the sight of their opponents, Sai and Temari. Shikamaru scattered his shadow, and using the shadows of their surroundings to expand, on the ground marking their territory that forced Sai and Temari to fall back ten meters. It was a fake though. Shikamaru purposely halted the advance of his shadows for half a second the resumed his pursuit catching his opponents in the off step. Temari was in the middle of her step backwards when the ground underneath her flooded in black. It was impossible to judge as the momentum carried her body but Sai was trained in this form warfare.<p>

While hopping backwards from the intial pursuit of the shadows. He was preparing (drawing) their next escape. A big black and white bird swoop them both off from the ground and carried them on to the roof tops. Arms of shadows protruded from the ground but wasn't fast enough to reach her.

"We mustn't let our guard down" Sai said impassively. In that short little while he was able to tap in to his old habits, locking away his emotions. It was a smart gambit by the opponent he thought, to set their loved ones against them

"But-!" Temari said in a defeated tone almost gentle. She was breaking Sai thought but still fighting. Their opponents weren't giving them any room to breathe. Ino was already on to the roof top and threw a couple of kunai with explosive tags right at their feet. Again, Sai had to account for Temari and carried her with him as he jumped backwards but the real attack was brilliantly disguised.

Ino threw those kunai's with a clone using Temari's little emotional breakdown to slip her real self behind them. The explosive tags were purposely set up to them towards her. Now they were caught in her trap, at least one of them. Sai was quick witted once again and reacted swiftly by chucking Temrai to the side. Underneath Sai was a large square scroll with a circular pattern drawn on its paper. Sai recognised it as a restraining technique he taught Ino. At the form of a seal the ink jumped out at him, wrapped around Sai's limbs and across his body, pulling him down. Sai looked up at the face of his wife, hoping to see any sign of the girl that he grew so fond of. The girl that brought a warm feeling to his heart he never knew that existed. Even though there was no facial emotions, the eyes can never truly lie. Ino's blue eyes looked blank but it wasn't empty. It had a spark of life behind it and tears ran down her cheeks as she held up the kunai she will kill her husband with.

It seemed his death was postponed by a gust of wind sweeping Ino off on to the next rooftop. The now composed Temari ran towards Sai in order to help him.

"How do I get you free?" Temari said boasting the calm and composed tone in her voice.

"There a small knife in my left pocket. Get it and stab it on the scroll"

Temari did as she was told then Sai muttered a series of seals then slowly the ink on the paper appeared to be getting sucked by the knife until it was clean like blank scroll. This time, it wasn't just Sai who was alarmed by a couple sneaking shadows at their feet. Temari got her emotions together now and her mind was in the fight, dodged the sneak attack.

Both Sai and Temari backed off further to make sure Shikamru won't reach them from his crouched position in front of the satellites.

"How do we beat this guys without hurting them?" Temari asked.

Sai was pondering about that topic as well ever since he saw Ino crying a river as she was about to kill him. He also noticed something similar about Shikamaru. Earlier when Sai's bird swept them of the ground, the shadow underneath Temari hesitated. 'They still have their consciousness' Sai thought. 'It's probably like watching through their own eyes but unable to control their actions…. And emotional feelings seems to leak some of those consciousness…..'

"I think I know how…." Sai said in his old monotone voice.

"How do you propose we do that?"

"We get ourselves killed…"

**Author's Note: Review, Favourite, Follow if you liked! To be continued...**


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